《Let's Invade A Fantasy World!》 Prologue: Crash, But No Landing? People scampered like a colony of ant all over the town¡¯s meager plaza. Adults were running with all they have while carrying their children, not even caring about their houses¡¯ doors being left wide open. Screams of terror and hopelessness rang out from all direction, while some just kept their fear-filled eyes on the flaming sky. ¡°Gods have mercy¡­¡± an elderly muttered to himself. The source of this townspeople¡¯s fear came from the red sky. Up there, a giant ball of flame can be clearly seen-- it increasing in size as if to consume Heaven itself. What could cause such a phenomenon, if not the wrath of gods? The feeble mind of humans, drowned in their faith to the benevolent divine beings, could not comprehend such an idea. Fortunately, their animalistic instinct of self-preservation was enough for them to understand what was happening. Death was upon them. And so the chaos began. The once peaceful Town of Beginnings was reduced into a cacophony of cries; a pandemonium of despair. It would have been a normal occurrence if it was one of the cities near the treacherous lands of the demons, but the Town of Beginnings is one of the farther¡ª if not the farthest¡ª location from the said place. Just what had they done for this to happen to them? Among the raging flow of people running away from the town, the clanking of metal footsteps boldly opposed it. ¡°First mage squad, to the middle of the plaza! Second mage squad, to my left! Knights, sweep the nearby buildings for remaining people!¡± Youthful yet charismatic, a beautiful blonde girl barked out a string of orders to the knights and mages accompanying her. An artistic silver staff was strapped on her back, while her long, white and emerald robe flowed gracefully through her feminine figure. A golden circlet with a fragment of Orb of Wind can be seen on her head. ¡°Commander Stella, barrier spells are ready to be cast at your command!¡± two mages shouted from their respective group. She raised her left hand, fist closed tightly. ¡°Keep charging. Wait for my signal.¡± The young wizard narrowed her eyes at the approaching hunk of burning rock. The entire capital was flabbergasted when they heard that a level 140 fire spell, Meteor Call, would be cast on a town under their rule. The one who had foreseen it, the only Prophet that can be found in the entire country, had never been wrong in her previous prophecies, thus speaking for the credibility of the said divination. And so the Order of the Sylphus was hastily deployed to help protect the defenseless town. It was a grueling and hard journey, but they reached the locale right on time. The blonde girl grabbed her trusty staff, the ¡®Wind Caller¡¯. Green magical energy began to accumulate around the tip, followed by the huge emerald magic circle that materialized right in front of her. Light pulsed through the runic markings all around it, while its rhythmic glowing became clearer and faster. ¡°Mages, now!¡± She dropped her raised arm, followed by the chorus of spells activating all at once. ¡°Greater Wind Barrier!¡± all of the robed mages yelled in unison. Layers upon layers of thin, transparent green force fields appeared all over the entire area. Its size expanded until it covered the whole actual town, ensuring that no amount of damage will be taken when the meteor finally hits. Stella opened her eyes. She finally finished casting her ultimate shield spell. A small, thin layer of wind covered her whole body, while dust flew all over around her. Stella tapped the end of her staff on the bricked ground and yelled. ¡°Heavenly Final Barrier!¡± Turbulent, the tiny layer of wind suddenly expanded¡­This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
Several flashing bulbs echoed inside the crimson room. His feeble limbs continually tapped on the hovering screen in front of him, with each contact resulting on a tiny beep. His shapeless body was quivering from the rapid movement his two short appendages were doing. [Hull damage has reached over 85%. Emergency ejection advised.] The creature paused upon hearing the robotic, disembodied voice of his ship¡¯s artificial intelligence. He doesn¡¯t know what¡¯s happening. The landing should have gone through without a hitch. The coordinates were exact, and no strong energy levels were within the safety radius of five kilometers. But after he reached the planet¡¯s atmosphere, the gravity began to increase tenfold, resulting in the pod crashing down much earlier than what was previously premeditated. The hard outer layer of the ship would have endured the friction against the air if it was just that alone, but then there¡¯s that shield energy that appeared all of a sudden. If the creature doesn¡¯t do anything, the ship would prematurely crash, thus spelling out his end. It was unthinkable. The habitants of this planet somehow predicted that he was going to invade their planet right at this moment. ¡°Burururu¡­¡± His gurgled voice pierced through the sounds of metal being crushed¡ª a mystery, seeing as there are no visible mouth, let alone any orifices, anywhere on his small body. Piece by piece, the whole ship got torn asunder, shaking the small creature all over. It looks like he doesn¡¯t have any choice. He would have to eject himself before hitting the barrier. He glanced behind his tiny body, unto the darkness covered corners of the room. His twenty indiscernible eyes, hidden inside his body, stared at the stacks of cases containing the necessary materials for his survival. Food, DNA capsules, the Builder-tool, everything, all neatly tucked inside each of their rectangular containers. ¡°Kururu.¡± Raising a stubby tentacle towards a cased button, he let out a small squeak, before finally mashing it down. [Ejection command received. Estimated time of activation: ten, nine, eight¡­] He crawled over towards a particular container. After touching something on the side of the metallic case, smoke came out from the hinges, and then it opened up with a snap. The alien reached out a tentacle inside and grabbed a small, oval piece of white metal. He retreated back the tentacle inside his body, along with the unknown equipment. He concluded that he can survive without the foods and capsules, but not without the Builder-tool. Without it, his survival rate would undoubtedly drop to zero. [three, two¡­] With haste, his last tentacle quickly snatched a single case of food. ¡­ Of course, food is important too. He just hopes that he¡¯ll still be able to eject with this much extra weight.
A circle plating slid to the side at the top of the meteor. With a quiet swish, the creature flew through and into the sky, followed by a wriggling case entangled on his remaining limb. His soft, fleshy body twisted and turned against the air, even reflecting some sunlight off of his glossy hide. ¡°Zururururuuu!¡± He tried to look down below him. For a glancing moment, a set of emerald eyes stared back to his own gaze, downwards where his ship was supposed to land. Through the raging spherical storm and the transparent green barrier, a female human with a shining blonde hair stood firm. So this planet is populated by humans, he thought. He¡¯ll have to check the information about this particular species back at the ship¡­ which is just a bunch of crumpled metal now. He glanced back at his former vessel. It had finally hit the barrier, and as expected, it was destroyed in an instant. Sparks and flare exploded in all direction, while some even almost reached the soaring alien. He promised to himself that he will never forget that girl. Someday, when they meet again, he¡¯ll be sure to pay her back. The whole scene became smaller as he flew farther away. He was humiliated. He lost almost everything before anything even started. Now he¡¯s flying to parts unknown, with only a week-worth of food and a portable Builder-tool. He¡¯s just a mere [Red Fleshing], the weakest variant of his species. Who knows what other terrifying lifeforms could be living on this planet? For all he knows, his life was fated to be as someone¡¯s snack right from the start, not the amazing planet invader he was trained for. ¡°¡­ Mururu.¡± No, that isn¡¯t right. As long as there¡¯s a chance, it¡¯s possible. He just needs to think, adapt, and survive. Maybe he should even start doing the first step now, too. Since he¡¯s so small and light, he predicted that he¡¯d be flying for a few more minutes before landing. Might as well start planning now rather than doing nothing. The first step would be to find¡ª or build¡ª a home. He¡¯ll need a base of operation if he¡¯s planning on ¡®staying¡¯ in this world for a while. After establishing a base, he¡¯ll also need to get stronger. For that, he¡¯ll need to mutate, or better yet, evolve¡­ ¡°Nururuu¡­¡± The alien soared over the sea of trees while deep in thought. 1: Ground Zero I ¡°¡ªGuru!¡± The creature was rudely snapped awake upon hitting the cold ground. His red, shapeless body twisted and turned as he looked around him, and then above. He can see a small circle through the canopies of the trees, probably made by him when he passed through it. It looks like he landed somewhere in the woods. Roots that are thrice the size of his body littered everywhere, coming from the humongous trees that made up the great forest. It was a bit dark and cold here under the shade of leaves, but it was a pleasant ambiance for him. Plus the ¡®hole¡¯ on the canopy provided some sunlight for him too. He isn¡¯t just small. This forest is really big. He actually fell asleep while flying but he still landed here. Just how far did he fly away? No, that¡¯s not a priority right now. First, he¡¯ll need to reorganize his memory and assess the data he currently knows. -His body seems to be fine. The force of the fall was mostly negated by his soft, squishy body. No scratches or wounds anywhere on his skin either. -The portable Builder-tool is intact too. Since he kept it inside his body, it suffered no damage at all. Same goes for the case of food. It did get slammed on the ground, but it wasn¡¯t made as an interplanetary traveling case for nothing. Upon further inspection, he also confirmed that the ¡®food¡¯ inside is unharmed. His body deflated as he sighed. It would have been very troublesome if something broke. Now that that was over, he pulled out the Builder-tool from inside his body. The silver, oval contraption looked sleek and clean. An even tinier emerald crystal was embedded in the upper middle of it. The green gem gave off a small pulse once in a while. He let go of the food case for the meantime and tapped the crystal with the freed limb. ¡°Ru!¡± With a sudden flash, a transparent green screen appeared above the emerald crystal. He laid the tool on the ground and looked over what¡¯s in the hologram. Good, it seems to be working perfectly. He presses ¡®Turn Off¡¯. The hologram disappears back into the Builder-tool. Now that he knows that everything¡¯s fine, it¡¯s time to find himself a home. Anything will do, but if he had to choose, a cave would be nice¡­ Not that he¡¯ll ever find one in the middle of a forest. He started crawling towards a random direction. He¡¯s bound to find something if he moves. At the very least, it¡¯s better than waiting here for nothing. He ¡®scaled¡¯ over a bunch of gigantic roots while he continued crawling. For some reason, he thought that each root looked more imposing and bigger than the last one. The trees looked as if the sky itself; He can¡¯t even tell if it¡¯s still day or night time. The foliage had completely covered everything above and cast a dim shadow below it. Fortunately, his eyes can easily see through this much darkness, him having lived his entire life underground on his home planet. ¡°Garooo!¡± ¡°Garo, gar!¡± That¡­ wasn¡¯t him. A pair of voices suddenly screamed somewhere around him, surprising the tiny alien. He looked around, but there wasn¡¯t anybody everywhere he looked¡­ ¡°Garooooo!¡± Something flew through by his side and struck to a tree, nearly hitting him. A quick confirmation told him that it was actually an arrow-- and a primitive one at that. It wasn¡¯t made of metal but instead of wood, and the point looked jagged and crusty. He reckoned that even if it had hit him, he would have barely felt it. He turned towards the direction where it came from. Up on the branch of a tree, two small human-shaped figures can be seen. One had a wooden bow drawn with another arrow on it, while the other one held a quiver full of arrows.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°Garo?!¡± It looked like the one with the quiver was yelling at the bow-wielder. It was raising the quiver up and down as it screamed. ¡°Garo garo garo!¡± The bow-wielder looked annoyed, so he smacked the back of the head of the other one. Needless to say, it went falling from a thirty feet drop and fell on the ground with a snap. Besides the arrows, something inside him made that sound too. ¡°G-Garoooo!¡± The bow-wielder yelled in shock. He probably didn¡¯t expect that his companion would fall. The alien stayed still. These two creatures are¡­ pretty stupid. They look like human children, but they have green skin. Their faces aren¡¯t as pleasant looking as that blonde girl before, too. They¡¯re also hairless, have pointy ears, and wore rags for their clothes¡­ The remaining one looked between his dead partner and the weird creature below. After a few seconds, it started jumping from a tree branch to another. It fled while yelling ¡®Garooo!¡¯ all the way. The alien thought that those things might be the locals living around here. He crawled over near the corpse of the one who died. It looked like it snapped its neck from the fall. He observed it for some more minutes, sometimes touching it with his tentacle just to check if it¡¯s still alive. It felt fleshy¡­ Maybe he can eat it. They did try to kill him, so it wouldn¡¯t have any qualm if he eats it, right? Well, it¡¯s still double the size of him. He can¡¯t possibly fit all of this inside him¡­ He raises his front body, showing what his underside looks like. There, a giant hole with a bunch of needle-like teeth on the sides can be seen. His whole lower body was essentially his mouth. ¡°Kuru¡­¡± He spread his maw all over the corpse¡¯s body and ate it in one gulp. A terrible crunching sound soon followed, and a large patch of blood pooled below him. His entire body expanded and shrunk as if to motion how he ¡®chewed¡¯ his food. In a matter of ten seconds, only the pool of blood remained of the creature¡¯s carcass. He felt happy after getting a free and good meal. The alien began to continue his interrupted journey, with a stomach newly satisfied and full. [You gained 25 DNA.] The artificial voice of the builder-tool said all of a sudden. Right, he forgot. The builder tool keeps track of his growth, though he still can¡¯t see the details just yet. He¡¯ll need to find or make a base first, then build an ¡®Evolution Room¡¯ for him to access his Biodata. That strange creature gave him 25 DNA. The amount is a bit low, so that thing must have been weak. Well, it did pathetically die like that, so it wasn¡¯t a surprise. ¡°Suru¡­¡± Now back to exploring.
Somewhere in the middle of the forest lies a gigantic tree. Its roots alone reach over the other trees by a large margin, and the top of this huge plant isn¡¯t even visible¡ª it being hidden behind the pearly white clouds of the heaven itself. The ¡®Yggdrassil¡¯ it is called. Coincidentally, the guardian of this great forest also resided there. ¡°Is that true?!¡± ¡°Y-Yes! That strange creature killed Gru in cold blood!¡± Somewhere on the base on of one its roots, two figure can be seen talking to each other. One was the tiny monster from before¡ª a goblin¡ª who wielded the bow. Its body shook in fear as it continued telling its story to its listener. ¡°We were just trying to find food for our tribe, but it attacked us all of a sudden!¡± it waved its hand in the air in a wild fashion, mimicking how the ¡®creature¡¯ killed the other goblin. ¡°Gru tried to stop it alone for me to escape, but¡­¡± The shadowed figure in front of the goblin did not move. Its two transparent wings quietly flapped, keeping the person afloat above ground. ¡°That sounds scary! Why do creepy things keep appearing all over my forest?!¡± In a brief moment, a minuscule beam of light passed through the countless leaves above them. Purely by chance, this ray shone down above the shadowed figure of the girl. What it showed was a little green fairy, barely even reaching half the height of the goblin she was talking to. Perhaps because of this, she kept her altitude higher than the height of the goblin. Despite that though, her absurdly long green hair still almost reached the ground. ¡°I don¡¯t want creepy things in my home! You, puny goblin, call your entire tribe.¡± the fairy pointed her petite finger at the surprised monster. ¡°Huh? But why?¡± it replied while stupidly tilting its head. ¡°As the guardian of this forest, I, Sylph, order you to kill that creepy thing.¡± Her face darkens while giving out a sinister smile. ¡°And I won¡¯t take a no for an answer.¡± ¡°H-huh? But you¡¯re the guardian, shouldn¡¯t you be the¡ª¡± Sylph glared down at the goblin. ¡°I¡¯m the guardian, so you should obey whatever I say. That¡¯s how it¡¯s supposed to go, right?¡± Inside her mind, one thought crossed her mind. ¡®I don¡¯t really care whoever wins. No matter who dies, it¡¯ll mean all the same¡­ One less creepy thing in my home.¡¯ Tiny ominous giggles echoed around the forest that day. 2: Ground Zero II Not before long, night settled in. The forest was already dark to begin with, but as time passed, this darkness grew worse, enough for even his eyes to notice it. He could hear distant croaks and howls beyond the woods, and the rays of moonlight peeking through the gaps of the canopies were even more visible than the earlier¡¯s sunlight. So far he still hasn¡¯t seen any potential locations to set up his base. Looks like he¡¯s not so lucky today. Well, he already understood that the moment his ship entered this planet¡¯s atmosphere though. ¡°Buruburuburu.¡± The creature sets out to find a temporary camp of some sort. After a quick check on the surrounding trees, he found one where its insides were carved out; it looks comfy and dry, plus the grass beneath it feels soft. He can probably sleep here. He splayed down onto the carpeted ground, followed by a tired groan rumbling inside his body. He had been dragging the case¡ª which has double the size of his body¡ª all over this forest for six hours. [Red Fleshlings] aren¡¯t known for their amazing endurance. More like they¡¯re infamous for being weak. His two tentacles, in particular, are on the smaller side too, and that certainly did not help him in any way. He wondered what would have happened if he had landed safely. Most likely, he¡¯d already been customizing his new base, genetically engineering and evolving his body, and scaring the pesky humans he¡¯d have enslaved. The next day, his glorious plan of invading the whole world would commence, and everyone would cower in fear to his fully evolved body¡­ The cold breeze of the night rudely snapped him awake from his thoughts. He knew reality can be harsh, but he never imagined that it was this cruel. No matter what comforting words he¡¯ll say to himself, nothing will change the fact that he¡¯s living inside a tree right now¡­ ¡°Puru¡­¡± Depressed, the strange creature drifted into slumber.
¡°Grrrrr!¡± A loud growl grumbles right beside him! The alien jumped up in the air in surprise. Alerted, he began to search outside his literal tree house. He grabbed the edges of the tree with both of his tentacles, then snapped his ¡®head¡¯ from side to side. Did something sneak up on him while he was sleeping? ¡°Grrrr!¡± He paused. That was¡­ his stomach. Now that he¡¯s aware of it, he does feel hungry. The thing that he ate yesterday definitely sated his stomach. It was almost twice his size, the meat was tender, and the bones snapped with just a little bit of squeeze. It actually took him ten minutes to fully digest, which is quite a long time for a member of his species. But that was yesterday. Today¡¯s food is another thing. He remembered the food case he was dragging all over the forest. It was there inside the tree, innocently lying down on the grass while keeping his last supply of food locked and tight. He crawled near and placed his limbs on either side of it. After having clicked the necessary buttons, the case opened up to reveal a dozen of silver capsules. ¡°Kururu!¡± Looking at those small pills brightened his day. Each one can last him for twenty-four hours, and they¡¯re not heavy for his stomach at all! He took a single one with a tentacle. He retracted it back inside his body, directly dropping it inside his stomach. Upon opening up a hole for his tentacle to enter from, some gastric juices within his internal cavity spilled on the ground.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Nom nom! Now he¡¯s full! He should start searching for a base again. Hopefully, he¡¯ll find something today. Linking a tentacle with the handle of the case, he started dragging it again like last time, eager to find himself a home once and for all. Behind him, a patch of melted grass and rocks can be seen.
Trudging through the quiet forest calmed his mind. Not that he was panicking, but yesterday was really a hectic one. Now that he got the chance to actually explore the forest with a rested mind, he began to admire the beauty and tranquillity of this place. ¡°G-Garoo!¡± Was his stomach rumbling again? That can¡¯t be possible. He just took a food fill. ¡°Garo!¡± ¡°Garoro?¡± ¡°Garoro!¡± Oh, it was those strange, green¡­ animals, again. The ones he met yesterday. It looks like they multiplied this time, with their number reaching around fifty to sixty. Walking foods, he thought. ¡°Garoro?!¡± They sounded like they¡¯re angry. Well, he did eat one of their kinsmen, so¡­ maybe they want to eat him now, too? A flying wooden spear whooshed past his side. Or they just want to outright kill him. That¡¯s a logical reaction too. Every direction was blocked by one of them. He didn¡¯t notice it before, but they must have encircled him while he was mulling over his thoughts. Each one carried a primitive weapon of some kind, ranging from ¡®sharp sticks¡¯ to ¡®sharper sticks¡¯. They probably intended to use them as swords and the likes. Looking back, that thrown spear before actually looked decent. Why did they throw that one instead of those sticks? ¡°Garoooo!¡± All of those idiots yelled as they ran towards him. ¡°Suro, Ruro.¡± He shook his head. These guys¡­ are really stupid. He let go of his case. He stretched both of tentacles to his side, followed by a small, pointy white object poking out of the tip of his limbs¡­ With a sudden burst, a pair of one-meter ivory bones extends from his tentacles. Not only the tip, but the edges themselves look jagged and razor-sharp. Transparent slimes are visible all over it, even dripping down to the ground with a loud hiss. The grass melted right where it landed. ¡°Kuro¡­!¡±
Everything was going to plan. They¡¯d entrap the monster in an enclosed space, encircle it, then hit it with all they¡¯ve got all at once. And then the first head flew away. Right when one of them got near the creature, it slashed those white sword-like bones on its arms, cleanly cutting the goblin¡¯s head off from its body. Some part of its neck even melted, exposing things that the goblins never knew were inside them. Crimson liquid sprayed all over the group of goblins, tinting them red from the blood of their own comrade. The slime-like thing wiped off the blood from its bone. Even though it had no eyes, they felt like that thing was looking right through their souls. ¡°Huro?¡± It said in its dark, demonic language. They cannot even fathom just what this monster is talking about right now. It must be mocking them for their weakness! Fear gripped the hearts of all the goblins. They do want to kill it, and they¡¯re scared of disobeying the guardian as well, but they also do not want to die. Looking at it, it must be a really strong monster. Something that doesn¡¯t belong to this forest, or maybe even anywhere for that matter. Shortly after, several screams of the remaining goblins rang out everywhere. Some foolishly tried to fight the monster by ganging up on it, by they were all bisected with just a simple rotation. Some that ran away amidst the chaos luckily escaped, while some got caught by its tentacle. They were promptly stabbed, effectively melting them inside out. Before the lone goblin knew it, he was the only one left. Everywhere he looked, dissected body parts and entrails painted the whole forest. A huge pool of blood soaked the ground beneath his feet, while patches of crimson splattered on the roots and trees littered all over the place. He heard it crawl towards him. Its body is so small, he wouldn¡¯t have even registered it as a threat if he had met it before this day. But looking at its blood-soaked bones and tentacles, the piece of hand slipping out from the mouth under it, and the melted head of one of his fellow goblin stabbed on its ¡®sword¡¯, he¡¯s now sure that this thing is his nightmare. ¡°Puro¡­¡± It raised its unoccupied limb and aimed it to his eyes. Everything fades to black soon after.
The alien retracted both of his bone inside his tentacles. He could have finished this without being so messy, but it already happened. All he can do now is¡­ probably ¡®clean up¡¯. He crawls to a nearby corpse and opens his maw¡­
3: Ground Zero III The rapid pings coming from the Builder-tool startled him. He was just minding his own business and eating the corpses, then it suddenly spoke in a loud voice. He forgot that he stashed the Builder-tool inside his body. The robotic voice coming from within him continued its announcement. Oh, eating all of those goblins actually got him to Stage III. [Red Fleshlings] have ten stages before they can evolve, but the DNA needed does scale up as his stage gets higher. Most were pretty self-explainable, except the last one. Fortunately he knew what it is, as it¡¯s one of the basic abilities a full-grown [Red Fleshling] have. is the ability to instantly digest food thrice his weight. That explains how he managed to eat all of those goblins. If he had an Evolution Room, he could get a more detailed explanation for this, but since he¡¯s still homeless¡­ , the ability he used to massacre the goblins, is the first and only ability of a young [Red Fleshling]. Every [Red Fleshling] learns everything about it immediately after they¡¯re born. Did he get stronger? Yes. Is he strong now? Not even close. In his planet, young [Red Fleshlings] like him rarely survives. Bigger and stronger predators, harsh and deadly climates; many things can kill them there without any effort. Even fully mutated fleshlings have a hard time trying to live everyday. Looking back, he was lucky to be taken in by his planet¡¯s military government. Now he¡¯s here to fulfill a mission, a mission that he will see through its end. ¡­ This must be the result of his Stage II brain. Getting smarter is always a good thing. As he turned to look at a puddle of clear blood, he noticed that his body had significantly grown. About¡­ half his former size? Increasing his body mass made his body larger. His tentacles in particular also increased in length, width and girth. Though the added weight slows him down by a tiny bit, it¡¯s but a small price to pay for a generally better body. ¡°Ruru?¡± Suddenly, the giant roots of the even more gigantic trees weren¡¯t so big anymore. Well, they¡¯re still huge, but not as large as before anymore. He knew that they didn¡¯t actually shrunk, but him who grew instead. Even so, how can he explain it? This feeling of dominance¡­ this superiority. True, he¡¯s still far from being strong¡­ but he¡¯s also not weak anymore. Oh well., back to base-hunting. He started dragging his case once again, followed by the huge trail of blood behind him.
¡°Ruru?¡± ¡°Pururu~!¡± All of his invisible eyes blink in response to the thing he¡¯s seeing right now. It¡¯s a [Green Fleshling]! Though she does look a bit unhealthy, plus her skin looked awfully transparent too¡­ Her tentacles are missing, either. ¡°Puru~!¡± She introduced herself as Slime. Apparently, Slime had been living in this forest for a long time now, eating and wandering day and night.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Wuru?¡± He asked her if she already has a base here, to which she replied with a tilt of her ¡®head¡¯. When did the military send her? If he remembers correctly, he should have been the first invader for this planet¡­ Several question marks appear behind her. Instead, she ejects a piece of leaf she had eaten earlier, and offer it to him. ¡°Puruuu?¡± No, he¡¯s not hungry¡­ It seems that she cannot understand what he¡¯s saying. Nevertheless, he can still ask her directions around this forest. ¡°Duru, dururu.¡± ¡°Puruu...¡± She turned to their south, from where he came from. There lies many delicious fruits, but she said that the tribe of ¡®goblins¡¯ live there, so she doesn¡¯t go there. To the east is the giant river where she drinks everyday. The water is clean, and sometimes fish swims right through her body, turning into instant food. The west will lead to a trail made by the human travelers that pass through the forest from time to time. They usually have scary humans with them, and they kill anything that they see there. Like the south, she tends to avoid going in that direction. Slime paused for a second. Her whole figure trembled as she chucked out a fish-bone from her body. ¡°Kuru?¡± He asked about the north, but Slime doesn¡¯t seem to be listening to him anymore. She started crawling away from him, towards a patch of bush, to which she proceeds to eat by submerging it inside her body. She doesn¡¯t have a mouth. [Green Fleshlings] sure are strange. ¡°Puruuu¡­¡± Since he¡¯ll probably be full for two more days or so, he can probably give her a single food pill. Just so he can ask her again and be on his way. After getting one inside his case, he crawled near Slime with the pill on his tentacle. He tapped her back. ¡°Puru?¡± ¡°Yuru!¡± ¡°Puru?! Puru~!¡± Slime seemed happy. She melted it in a matter of seconds. Judging from her bouncy hops, she probably liked it. ¡°Puru!¡± To the north is¡­ nothing. Apparently it¡¯s just an endless crop of trees. Nobody even lives there, as there aren¡¯t any water and food there. Nothing beyond it, either. Just the edge of the forest, ending on a deep cliff towards the ocean. Did he just waste a food pill for nothing? As if Slime heard his thoughts, she hastily told him more. Apparently, if he follows where the source of the river comes from, he¡¯ll reach the center of this forest, where the great tree, Yggdrasil, resides. They cannot see it from here as the canopies of the trees completely covers the whole sky, but if he reaches the river where there are no trees nearby, he¡¯ll be able to see it. ¡°Kuru!¡± Well, that was worth it. Now he knows where the important things are. For now, he¡¯s going to this tree called Yggdrasil and maybe set up his base there. He could probably carve up a space inside it with enough work. Sounds like a plan. ¡°Pururu~.¡± Slime happily swayed from side to side as he walked away. He waved back a tentacle at her, bidding his farewell. Slime was a nice girl. He¡¯ll also wish her good luck for invading this planet. With the two of them here on this planet, they will be able to cover more ground, thus making their mission faster! Behind him, Slime stopped moving. She turned to her side and sees a peach. Giddy, her empty mind chased the food in front of her eyes¡­
Slime told him that the west should take him to a river, and he had been walking as straight as he can be, but¡­ it¡¯s been two hours now. At this rate, it wouldn¡¯t even be long till night settles in. Maybe he should find another tree to sleep in again. It¡¯s strange, but there seems to be no other living thing within this direction. So far he haven¡¯t met anyone other than those strange green people, and Slime. This forest is huge, so its population must be on ratio to its size too, but¡­ Maybe it¡¯s the same with his planet. It is big, but the apex predators mow down the lesser ones too fast for them to reproduce. Could something like that be living here, too? He hopes not. After passing through a particularly thick group of shrubbery, his eyes were greeted to the sight of the setting sun. The sky was bathed in orange, and clouds looked pearly white. Here, the wind feels moist and damp, unlike inside the forest, which felt suffocating and dry. The sound of running water can also be heard from ways away from him. It came from the pristine clear river that Slime was talking about. Truth to her words, it does look beautiful, and after a closer inspection, he does see a lot of fishes swimming beneath the waters. Drinking something other than blood sounds nice. 4: Ground Zero IV He dipped his lower body on the water while anchoring both of his tentacles on the river¡¯s edge so that he won¡¯t drift away. Yes, this is what he just needs. He was starting to smell like blood a few hours ago. His mind wandered about certain things as he relaxed. After he finds a suitable place for his base, he¡¯ll have to find specific materials to feed the Builder-tool. According to his debriefing, before his ship launched to space, this planet should have an abundant resource of gold, silver, and quartz, which are the basic materials for most of the blueprints in the Builder-tool. After he¡¯s steady on those three¡¯s supply, finding other rarer materials should be easy. Thinking all about these things just got him more pumped on reaching that Yggdrasil tree. Speaking of that tree¡­ He turned his face to the said tree over the distance. Its sheer size was incomprehensible; he doubts that there¡¯s something as big as that on his planet. The top isn¡¯t even visible as it''s beyond the clouds, and its width alone blocked a wide portion of the sun¡¯s light itself. The other trees, which he thought were gigantic already, looked like mere ants compared to the Yggdrasil. He wondered if something already lived there. If there is, he hoped that they wouldn¡¯t mind a new neighbor. Guess he¡¯ll just have to find out when he gets there. ¡°Upu.¡± He hoisted himself up from the river, now feeling refreshed after having his quick relaxing time. The sun would fully set soon, so he should find another place to sleep for tonight. He¡¯ll just have to tough it up for now; who knows, maybe after a day or two, he¡¯ll have his own home to go back to by then.
¡°Killed? All of them?¡± Sylph yelled in irritation. Having received the news that the goblins failed on their task miserably, the tiny fairy couldn¡¯t help her anger and disappointment. Apparently, even after successfully entrapping the monster with their whole tribe, somehow, they still couldn¡¯t kill it. Some stragglers managed to survive, but it wouldn¡¯t be long till they perish to the other predators inside the forest. ¡°Oh well.¡± she sighs, shrugging. ¡°I didn¡¯t really expect much from them anyway. Also, now that they¡¯re dead, my forest have one less creepies in it.¡± She flopped down on her ¡®bed¡¯, her arms spread. Her ¡®room¡¯ can be found up above the highest point of the tree; inside the heart of Yggdrasil. Its Core, which gives life to the whole forest-- a large circular orb of emerald shining inside the darkness-filled interior of Yggdrasil-- served as her room and bed. She closed her eyes in tiredness. As she lay motionless, the energy coming from the Core seeped through her skin. ¡°Ahh¡­¡± So many problems to prevent. So many things to protect. Being a guardian isn¡¯t fun at all. Sylph missed her former way of life, when all she cared for was her hair, food, and house. She lived the way she wanted without being restricted to anything. She was free. The tiny fairy opened her eyes. Now she¡¯s here, ¡®protecting¡¯ things that she doesn¡¯t even care about. Always needed to keep appearances when meeting other guardians, or any other important person. Expected to keep the peace of the entire forest alone. Up until now, everything had been dull. Grey and black, day and night. She¡¯ll patrol somewhere when it¡¯s daytime, and regulate the forest¡¯s Core as she sleeps. ¡°But that strange monster¡­¡± a small sinister smile formed on her face. It actually killed those ugly and annoying goblins she hates the most. True, she was the one who sent them to their deaths, but nobody needs to know those small details¡­Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. After countless decades of being the guardian, Sylph finally felt what she longed for the most: Fun. ¡°This is interesting. Maybe I can let it roam around my home for a while longer.¡± she giggled to herself. She stared through the large hole above and to the moon beyond it. ¡°What will you do next, monster?¡±
His head snapped up in attention. He felt like someone was talking to him, but he¡¯s all alone here inside this tree. He might have been just dreaming. Taking a peek outside revealed that it¡¯s already day time, what with the sun glaring down on everything from above. It¡¯s been long since he felt the rays of the yellow star hitting his skin. It reminded him of his planet, which has a more-or-less similar star of its own. His stomach still feels full, which is good. The buffet yesterday really was delicious. This day is great! He should start traveling. He wouldn¡¯t want to waste such a day like this. He grabbed his food case and crawled towards the direction of his destination; the Yggdrasil. ¡°Puru!¡± He trudged through the side of the river with a happy tune. He even sounded like Slime back there. Slime seemed joyful and giddy during their entire conversation yesterday, and it grew on him. He should be like her. She probably suffered through something worse than him for her to turn like¡­ that. Yet still, Slime never removed that metaphorical smile on her face and lived on through her life. She¡¯s a strong girl. He should strive to be like her. His mind was filled with more idle thoughts on the entirety of his journey¡­ Well, until he reached about a fourth of the river, that is. ¡°Haha! Look, isn¡¯t this place awesome?¡± ¡°Rule, the guild warned us to not go in here! Let¡¯s go back!¡± ¡°Let him be, Helen. If something happens to us, we¡¯ll blame him.¡± A trio of humans was talking to each other not far ahead of him. The male looked like a fledgling knight, wearing a shiny set of metal armor. He also possesses a longsword, strapped on his back and ready whenever he¡¯ll need it. The second human was a girl wearing a flowing white dress, trimmed with golden hems here and there. A silver staff is held tightly by her right hand. The last one, garbed in black robes that covered her whole body beside her front, was a girl. She wore a pair of glasses over her eyes, while a thick leather book is bound on her left hip. The girls looked significantly younger than the guy, for some reason. The alien¡¯s whole body paused upon seeing the three. What are humans doing here? They already found where he landed? Just how far did the technology of this planet¡¯s humanity have come? If he runs away, he¡¯ll never be able to reach Yggdrasil today. There¡¯s only one way towards it, and that¡¯s to follow the river. The forest near here isn¡¯t as traversable as the paths he took on before. He needs to go there as fast as possible. Wasting his time crawling all over this forest wouldn¡¯t help him invade this world. Thus, there¡¯s only one answer to this question¡­
¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s not like we¡¯re some random newbies.¡± Rule assured his two companions with a smile. ¡°I¡¯m a C-rank, remember?¡± The healer of their party, Helen, cries out in reply. ¡°C-ranks might be allowed here, but I and Gale are only D-rank. W-We might even get slaughtered here!¡± The white-haired girl turned her eyes from side to side, afraid that a monster will appear all of a sudden if she wasn¡¯t looking. Their last member, a wizard by the name of Gale, sighed. ¡°What Helen¡¯s saying hold some truth, Rule. We already picked the herbs requested, let¡¯s just go back.¡± ¡°You¡¯re both worrying too much.¡± the boy waved them off, grinning. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s just take a quick dip! I heard the water coming from Yggdrasil works wonders to girls.¡± Rule smiled at them. Gale raised a small eyebrow. ¡°And how did you know that?¡± The man paused for a second, trying to find his voice. ¡°Well, from my former party members¡­¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just go back, please¡­¡± Helen seemed scared out of her wits. Internally, Rule clicked his tongue. He thought luring in this pair of newbies would be easy, as with the others before them. But the healer is a coward, while the wizard seemed sharp for what she¡¯s worth. Should he just do it here now? He can surprise them if he makes the first move. Just when he was trying to reach for his blade¡­ Clang! With nothing but pure reflexes and instincts honed through the years of adventuring, Rule managed to parry an incoming strike from his left. His weapon blocked the slash of a white sword¡­ no, a bone? Beyond it, a creature he has never seen before held the sharp bone, which was sticking out from one of its limbs. ¡°What the heck is this¡­?¡± Rule couldn¡¯t help but gape in surprise. 5: Ground Zero V Rule jumped back in order to break the deadlock. Having been an experienced adventurer himself, he recovered from his shock rather quickly. ¡°A monster...¡± the man narrowed his eyes. Just his luck. A random monster appeared right when he was going to attack the two. And it¡¯s an unknown monster to boot, so he wouldn¡¯t know its behavior and abilities. But Rule didn¡¯t reach C-class for nothing. He immediately called out to his two teammates. ¡°Gale, Helen! Get ready to support me!¡± The wizard was quick on her feet. ¡°Yes!¡± On the other hand, Helen fumbled through her words but still took on her battle stance. Rule cleared his mind. Yes, actually, this could be a chance for him. After this battle, the two newbies would be tired from the fighting, and maybe that¡¯s when he could strike... An ominous grin spreads through his lips. This might be actually the stroke of luck he just needs. ¡°I¡¯ll be the frontline, just focus on supporting me.¡± He gripped his sword tightly between his hands. On the backline, their sole healer trembled on her feet. ¡°W-What kind of monster is that? A-A slime?¡± Gale shook her head. She had her book open with her right hand in front of her. ¡°No, that¡¯s not a slime. Slimes residing in this forest are green in color, not red.¡± Not to mention that it doesn¡¯t even look like it¡¯s made up of liquid. Rule did not waste any more time and rushed up fast towards the monster. First, a quick, short slash to feint it into parrying with its two swords... Clang! It took it! Rule used the bouncing momentum of his sword and rotated, aiming a wide slash on the monster¡¯s right side. ¡°There!¡± What a supposed clean hit turned out to be nothing. It felt as is his sword hit a rock or something similar. Rule almost even let go of his sword from the impact, not expecting such a fleshy looking creature to be as hard as that. ¡°!¡± Gale held out her open left hand. A pair of tiny orbs of flame expanded, reaching the size of a head. It flew off towards the monster, scoring another direct hit. ¡°Kuruuuu!¡± it yelled in its ear-scratching voice. It shambled back away from Rule, giving the knight a time to breathe. Rule seized the chance given to him and tried to attack once again. This time, he used one of his skills as his normal attacks do not look like they¡¯d work. ¡°!¡± Tiny speckles of white energy began to gather around the weapon, it glowing in pure albescent light. The knight yelled at the top of his lungs as he swung the weapon. The stone-like toughness of the monster¡¯s hide, rendered useless by magic, was also penetrated by Rule¡¯s empowered attack. It¡¯s following screech made the three adventurers cover their ears in pain. ¡°Kreeeeeiiiieee!¡± Red blood gushed out from the large gash on its body. Its tentacles lay unmoving on the ground, made limp from the painful sensation running through its whole body. ¡°!¡± Helen shakily pointed her staff at the downed monster. A pillar of pure holy energy appeared over the creature, searing it with the borrowed powers of the gods.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. One final cry. After the combined attacks of the three adventurers, the monster breathes its last air and finally slumped down on the ground. It tried crawling away in a last-ditch attempt to escape, but Rule drove another into it and completely cut it in half. It laid motionless on its own pool of blood in a matter of seconds. ¡°Bugger, you don¡¯t mess with me¡­¡± Rule whispered to the dead monster as he drew out his blade. To his surprise, almost a fourth of his sword was gone, melted off inside the creature¡¯s stomach. ¡°Ah, damn.¡± ¡°We killed it?¡± Helen walked near the corpse and poked it with the bottom of her staff. It didn¡¯t move. ¡°Wow¡­¡± ¡°It seems to be an unknown monster.¡± Gale pushed up her glasses, smiling. ¡°We¡¯ll cash in a hefty amount of gold if we bring this to the guild.¡± ¡°You said what I was thinking.¡± Rule grinned. Not only will he get to play with these two newbies, but he¡¯ll also get some money to boot. This really is a lucky day. Just to make sure, he should tire them out more as much as he can. The knight turned to the healer, feigning a tired expression. ¡°Helen, can you cast to me and Gale?¡± ¡°Eh? You got tired?... But Gale didn''t really do much, so she''s not tired. Are you, Gale?¡± She glanced at the wizard. ¡°Not particularly, no. Shouldn¡¯t it be wise to preserve Helen¡¯s mana for later?¡± She thought that they might encounter more monsters later. Rule¡¯s smile twitched. ¡°¡­ That¡¯s my point. What will you do if we fight later and you¡¯re both tired?¡± He saw the flash of fear on Helen¡¯s eyes. ¡°I-I understand.¡± She held her staff with both of her hands with her eyes closed. ¡°.¡± The two adventurers were momentarily covered in pure white. Fatigue vanished from their body, leaving them refreshed as if they just woke up. Meanwhile, Helen¡¯s breathing got a bit ragged from the continuous use of her holy magic. ¡®This coward Healer is already tired. It shouldn¡¯t be too hard to fight this lone Wizard now¡­¡¯ Rule slowly reached out for the hidden dagger on his right leg. Gale¡¯s eyes were on the kneeling Helen, and her back is turned to Rule. He can already imagine it. Them wailing below his body, insistently crying for help in the middle of a damned forest. Him doing whatever he wants, then tossing their dead body out to the river when he¡¯s finished. Just like every time. ¡°Turning your back to me will be your greatest regret in life¡­¡±
[Warning! User¡¯s physical health has reached hypercritical levels. Warning! User¡¯s physical health has¡­] This foreign energy, ¡®magic¡¯ they call it, proved effective against his kind¡¯s body. The flames hurt more than usual, and even that white light rendered him motionless just from the pure agony he felt. The knight was also strong. He managed to penetrate his defense on his second hit. Not to mention that that human was far more experienced in sword fighting than him. Without his Stage II brain, he¡¯d probably be really dead by now. The blood flowing out from his body stopped its movement and began to get sucked back inside him. It looked as if time itself was rewinding backward; even the liquids that stuck on the ground and grass returned. His two separated body, cleaved cleanly in the middle, began to stitch themselves back together. Fiber by fiber reconnected with each other until his body was one whole figure once again. [You have completely consumed your digested food. You are now hungry.] His tentacles shot back into the air, coming into life. He finally soaked his bone blades with gastric juices, turning it into his ability, . He looked up to see the back of the man that almost killed him. Without a second thought, he jumped up above the unsuspecting man and directed his mouth right on its target. Clomp.
Gale and Helen were surprised to hear the muffled cries of their party leader. Upon turning, the horrific sight of Rule¡¯s head being covered by the monster they thought they have defeated a while ago greeted their eyes. From the neck down, sizzling yellow liquid poured down on his body, melting even the light metal armor he was wielding. ¡°GRMMMFFP! GMMRPFPP!¡± They can¡¯t see his face, but they can already imagine it full of terror and panic. The two were similarly paralyzed in fear and shock. All they could do was watch as Rule¡¯s bones were eventually turned visible by his rapidly dissolving body. It wasn¡¯t long after his cries turned silent. Soon his body knelt on the ground as his hands went slack and motionless. Gale¡¯s glasses fell off from her face, while the white dress of Helen¡¯s pelvic area darkened. 6: Ground Zero VI Rule¡¯s body lay motionless on the grass, unmoving. The vivid color of crimson blood painted the lush green of grass a new color. It wasn¡¯t long till some reached Helen¡¯s dress, who was still sitting on the ground from the shock. ¡°Aahh¡­!¡± a small whimper escapes the healer¡¯s mouth. The color on her face quickly drained in sheer fear. Her whole body wouldn¡¯t stop trembling, while her hands tightly clung to Gale¡¯s foot as if her life depended on it. ¡°Rule!¡± Gale covered her mouth in disgust. Even the natural fortitude her mind had developed were reduced into nothing by this sight. She can feel her breakfast slowly going up her throat, but the last she wanted to do was throw up and turn the monster¡¯s attention to them. The unknown creature finally detached itself from Rule, but not without fully biting off the knight¡¯s head clean. They can distinctly hear the sound of his skull being crushed inside its body, scratching and rattling their ears as it continued on chomping it. A tiny spurt of blood squirted out from his neck and drenched their feet. This seemed to finally snap them back into reality. ¡°Helen, get up.¡± the wizard whispered slowly. ¡°Don¡¯t suddenly move, and don¡¯t scream.¡± Helen choked up her terror and nodded. They need to get out of here, fast. It¡¯s still busy eating off the rest of Rule¡¯s body and apparently forgot about them. She used Gale¡¯s right foot as leverage and pulled herself up, slowly but surely. Even the sound of rusting grasses made her skin crawl, afraid that the creature would mercilessly kill them like their deceased teammate. Gale picked her glasses that she dropped a while ago. She can barely see anything without it, and as much as she hates seeing a dead body being eaten right in front of her, she still needs her eyewear for when they finally run away. Their gazes were glued on the monster¡¯s two bone blades. On their initial fight, it felt just as sharp as Rule¡¯s longsword, but that was it. Though it has two of it, they were much shorter than Rule¡¯s-- only a foot long, and the user didn¡¯t even look like it knew what it was doing. Now, a thick, yellow slimy liquid covered the swords, which melted almost everything it touched. Grass, cloth, flesh, iron¡­ bones. It looked like a certain middle-class spell that Gale had read about before; the level 60 water spell, . These swords are its primary weapon and the main point of concern to Gale and Helen. The moment those come near their way, they¡¯ll die. They slowly inched away, one step at a time... then ran.
He glanced at the two humans desperately running away from him. He¡¯s aware that they¡¯re escaping him, and would likely alert other people living where they came from. But that¡¯s exactly what he wants. After this interesting encounter with humans, he concluded two things. The first thing is that humans aren¡¯t an efficient source of DNA. He had to risk his life just to eat one, and he only got sixty. Those strange green things before were much more rewarding and easier. The second thing is that they triggered something called ¡®Special Mutation¡¯. Is it good? It sure is! ¡°Ruru!¡± he raised his tentacles as he cheered. Well, he can speak now, but he still doesn¡¯t know this planet¡¯s language. Overall, it¡¯s still pretty useless. He might need to mutate his brain a little bit more.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. On the bright side, anyone can hear his voice now, instead of his nonsensical shrieking and grumbles. They still can¡¯t understand him though, and vice-versa. ¡°Muru...¡± he slurped the melted bits on the knight he fought a while ago. After a long time of dosing it with his gastric juices, its armor and body eventually melted into a puddle of red goo. It¡¯s much easier to eat him now. He wondered... if he had the ability to communicate with those three humans, would they have let him off? ¡°I, alien. I invade hooman planet.¡± he tries a couple of harmless gestures to further present his ¡®non-hostility¡¯. The three adventurers stay silent. ... No, everything might have just turned out the same. Maybe even worse. Anyways, humans attacking him later will ultimately benefit him in the long run. This is the main reason he let those two females go. There¡¯s also the slim chance that they will warn others to not go to the forest anymore, which can be good too. It¡¯s less risky that way. But those are just wishful thinking, and humans are pretty random. He¡¯ll have to wait later and see. ¡°Duru¡­¡± One last slurp and everything¡¯s clean. Just like nothing happened, he crawls back to where he hid his case and got back on his little adventure.
Back inside the Yggdrasil tree, Sylph bemusedly watched the pair of girls running through her woods from a giant leaf. Even with the immeasurable distance between them, her tiny eyes were still able to clearly see them. She had just watched the complete battle between the monster and these trespassing humans, and suffice to say, she was very entertained. Watching those pathetic monkeys die is one thing, but seeing one getting so brutally killed and subsequently eaten? That was a first for her. ¡°Don¡¯t kill those girls.¡± she talked to a buzzing bee near her. ¡°Let them go alive. I want to see more of this.¡± The bee flew down several hundred meters on the ground in reply. ¡°It seems to be carnivorous. Can it eat anything that¡¯s meat?¡± the fairy idly thought to herself. ¡°Or maybe--¡± ¡°Excuse me, great guardian Sylph.¡± A cold voice interrupted her thoughts behind her. The pixie¡¯s face turns into a scowl and quickly glances back. ¡°I don¡¯t remember inviting you here in my home. Are you inciting a war against me?¡± What greeted her eyes was a person completely covered in a black robe. Only their mouth and chin were visible through their hood, which was curved in an eerie smile. It¡¯s just like before; she never felt their presence even when they¡¯re already behind her-- which is absurd-- considering just who this individual is. The robed figure merely chuckled. ¡°Goodness, no. I wouldn¡¯t want to receive the ire of the great guardian of Yggdrasil.¡± they wave their hand in dismissal. ¡°This is just the same as my earlier visits.¡± Sylph rolled her eyes, then fully turned herself so that she¡¯s facing the unknown speaker. A particularly strong gust of wind blew over them, uncovering the darkened hood over the figure¡¯s face. What she first noticed was his pair of horns; two ivory stumps of bones coming out of his head, an inherent trait of the demon kind. Last but definitely not the least would be his stunning and charming face, befitting of someone with his caliber. Sylph glared at him. ¡°For the umpteenth time Demon Lord, I will not join your army!¡±
Maybe it¡¯s just him, but lately, he feels like the monsters of this forest have been avoiding him. It¡¯s not like he¡¯ll outright kill them when they haven¡¯t done anything. He¡¯s, at the very least, a ¡®civil¡¯ creature. At least, to anything that isn¡¯t human. ¡°Kuru?¡± he glanced on a direction where a white wolf ran to. It was casually walking around at first, but upon seeing him, it ran away as fast as it can. ¡­ Now he¡¯s getting a bit hungry. Maybe he can talk someone out here into turning his food.
Amidst this forest, the thick smell of death lingered. It is not surprising, as everything that lived here have to fight for food and survival. The ¡®Rule of the Jungle¡¯ strictly applies to this particular place. But what happens when this smell of blood, this feeling of dread and death, get¡¯s compressed into a single being? It laid waste to the goblin tribe alone. As if that was not enough, it ate every single one of them, and casually crawl away as if nothing ever happened. Now its body has been newly soaked of a far more familiar smell; the scent of human blood. After the ¡®show¡¯ it presented them just earlier, where it fought a group of adventurers alone and managed to actually win and send the two remaining running, this particular creature has unknowingly made a name for itself. The monsters in the lower end of the food-chain now fear it as if its Death itself. Something that will coldly tear your body will from limb to limb-- while eating you at the same time. ¡°Suru¡­¡± it turned its head to a hiding wolf on a bush, its large mouth wide open. Before the mutt even knew it, darkness had enveloped his whole vision. 7: Ground Zero VII Due to the interference of those three humans earlier, he couldn¡¯t reach Yggdrasil before dark. He¡¯s not that far anymore though, as he already reached the roots sprouting all over near the gigantic tree. According to his estimations, he will arrive on his destination before noon tomorrow. The great Yggdrasil looked more imposing than ever now that he¡¯s near. He wondered just how old this intriguing specimen could be. Upon touching one of its roots, he could surely say that this unknown wooden material is harder than steel. It¡¯s not something that can be explained through science, so no doubt that magic has something to do with it. He can investigate it more closely once he reaches it. For now, the moon has already risen, and so commences the time for his rest. Just like before, he picked a dry, hollow tree as his temporary sleeping spot. Already used to sleeping on such places, sleep took over his mind much earlier than his previous nights. ¡°Wuru¡­¡±
Ah!¡± Upon running into an elevated root, Helen could only yelp as she plummeted to the ground. It was fortunate that she didn¡¯t hit her head on any of the rocks below her. Mud and blood stained her once pristine white dress, while her face was wet from her snot and tears. ¡°I, can¡¯t move anymore¡­¡± ¡°Helen, come on¡­!¡± Gale ran back to her fallen companion and desperately pulled her up. ¡°We¡¯re, we¡¯re already near the main road¡­ Hang, haah, in there¡­!¡± Sweat was pouring all over her face, and her glasses had cracks all over it. Both of them were panting in exhaustion. After successfully escaping that thing from before, the pair never stopped running, even with their feet feeling like it would snap in a moment¡¯s notice. They ran through countless leaves, cobwebs, and boulders, tripping and falling to the ground over and over. The feeling that it could be chasing right behind them never left their minds. It was only after a solid two hours of running that their thoughts have somewhat cleared and calmed. This brought them to their current situation right now. After steadying her stand and dusting off the dirt on her dress, Helen quietly spoke to her remaining comrade. ¡°Gale, if this is an adventurer''s daily life, I don¡¯t think I¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t say that, Helen.¡± Gale breathed in deep, then exhaled. ¡°This was a first for me too. Death doesn¡¯t happen as frequent as this, usually. If Rule didn¡¯t insist on us going near the river, this wouldn¡¯t have happened.¡± Helen stayed silent, contemplating over her own thoughts. The wizard firmly grabbed the blonde¡¯s left hand and walked. ¡°Let¡¯s go. Even though we¡¯re already here at the Beginner Zone, fighting a group of monsters would likely end with us being eaten. We don¡¯t have a tank.¡± The healer nodded in return. ¡°Y-Yes, I understand.¡± Amidst the tranquil silence of the forest, two pairs of footsteps echoed throughout the night.
Somewhere along the wide dirt road of this forest, a couple of carriages rode on under the moonlit sky. The rhythmic sound of the horses¡¯ hooves hitting against the ground alerted the nearby small monsters they pass by. Inside one of these vehicles, a familiar Wind Spellcaster rested, along with her trusted comrades. ¡°Please be at ease, commander Stella. We will keep an eye out for any ambushes while you take your much-deserved rest.¡± One of the hooded mages spoke to the blonde girl, his tone concerned.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°No. If there¡¯s anyone that needs rest here, it will be you all. I still have a lot of energy to spare.¡± To demonstrate, she raised her left palm in the air and summoned a small ball of wind torrent upon it. Despite its size, the force of the unnamed spell could be felt by the entire carriage. ¡°Have you forgotten who your commander is?¡± ¡°But commander--¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you convinced yet? Maybe I will make our knights¡¯ carriage float above ours, will that convince you, vice-commander?¡± Her emerald staff glowed briefly, ready to make things fly if given a chance. The mages could only sigh in reply. Their commander is a top-notch magician-- there¡¯s no doubt about that-- but nevertheless, nothing can remove the fact that she still lacked experience, and is still quite young. Her hard-headedness would put veteran knights to shame, while her tendency to blow ¡®dangerous¡¯ things away just worsens her reputation. ¡°... Alright, commander. We shall rest¡­¡± the aforementioned vice-commander quietly replied. After checking that the girl wasn¡¯t looking at them anymore, he whispered something to the person beside him. ¡°Nobody will sleep until Lady Stella slumbers. Let¡¯s just pretend. Pass it on to the next person.¡± And so the train of whispers circled and reached the final mage, which was sitting right beside Stella. The unknown female mage almost whispered it to the wind mage herself, but fortunately stopped herself after getting a stern glare from the vice-commander. Everyone patiently waited for the young wizard to finally fall asleep. They would sometimes see her head nodding off, but would ultimately be disappointed as she would hastily snap back into alertness. But after a solid hour of pure silence, Stella finally looked like she¡¯d fall asleep, until¡­ ¡°Hiyaah!¡± the coachman yelled at the top of his lungs, making all of the mages face-fault to the floor. The horses also screamed as the carriage went to a full stop. ¡°What is it?!¡± Stella exclaimed in attention. ¡°A monster ambush?¡± All of the mages looked like they¡¯re ready to murder something, which confused the blonde wizard for a moment. ¡°N-No, commander. It¡­¡± the driver hastily replied. ¡°looks like a pair of adventurers splayed on the ground. They¡¯re breathing, but barely¡­¡± Realizing that it was much more serious than what they¡¯ve thought, everyone inside stood up in attention. Their commander, now wide-awake once again, barked out her latest orders. ¡°Bring them inside. Those who know healing magic, stay here with me and get ready.¡±
Meanwhile, inside the tree of Yggdrasil¡­ Sylph laid on her back on top of the tree¡¯s emerald Core. On her left hand is an envelope tailored to her small size, with a stamp designed with a black skull. It was a letter given to her by the Demon Lord before he teleported away. She opened it and held it up above her face, reading it. ¡°The other two Elemental Spirits have already joined me. Only you remain neutral between this war, Sylph. I wouldn¡¯t want to hear you betraying us monsters like that traitor Undine. Please choose wisely.¡± The letter read. The first and foremost thing Sylph did was tear it to shreds. After that, she used her power over the wind and blew it away from her sight. Both of her green eyebrows were furrowed as hard as they can. ¡°You¡¯d have to try harder than this if you want me to join your disgusting harem, Demon Lord.¡± She said to nobody while rolling her eyes. ¡°I couldn''t care less if the humans or those stinky demons win their petty war, all I want is my freedom.¡± Sylph knew that that demon is unfathomably powerful. Much more powerful than her, even. She was aware that if he wanted, he could just forcefully abduct her and beat her into submission. But does she care? No. While he could certainly do that, there¡¯s a reason why he never does it. While he may be stronger, Sylph is still Sylph. For a lack of better term, the tiny, unassuming fae could legitimately be called wind herself. A fight between them will undoubtedly end on either her dying, or him losing a limb or two. Sylph became a guardian for a reason; because she has the power to protect the Forest of Yggdrasil alone. ¡°Ah, he always brings nothing but stress. I need my daily dose of entertainment.¡± She flew up into the canopy of Yggdrasil and sat on a random leaf. She peered down below the ground, looking for a certain something that always brings a mischievous smile to her face. ¡°... Oh, there it--¡± she stopped her talk upon realizing where the creature is. ¡°It¡¯s... trespassing at my home.¡± Her previous bright green eyes suddenly turned cold. 8: Ground Zero VIII His invisible eyes opened up. Just like every day, he woke up quite early in the morning, right after the first rays of sunlight hit the land. He can feel the cold morning dew on the grass as he crawled out, with his case wrapped around a tentacle. ¡°Grrr¡­¡± Well, his stomach had been growling ever since he woke up. He remembers using up all of his food to regenerate his body the previous day. Looking back, if he didn¡¯t have any food there after that fight, he would have died from starvation. Maybe that¡¯s also one of the reasons why he immediately ate that human and ignored the other two. After picking one off from his case, he retracted the tentacle back inside his body and dropped the pill directly on his stomach. Just like that and he already ate his whole day worth of meal. These food capsules sure are handy. He already used up three. Two he used for himself, and one that he used to ¡®bribe¡¯ Slime, the [Green Fleshling]. He only has four left now¡­ But that wouldn¡¯t pose a problem anymore. When he finally makes a base, production of these food capsules should be a cinch. He just has to reach that Yggdrasil and set up his base¡­ He crawled back to the side of the river. He continued on his lackluster journey towards the tree, all the while staring at its humungous canopy. He hoped that there won¡¯t be any random humans idling around here this time. He¡¯s not sure if he can handle them again without being sufficiently fed, and getting hit by that ¡®magic¡¯ thing once again doesn¡¯t sound pleasing at all. He can handle the monsters. They¡¯re weak anyway. He hasn¡¯t met any strong creatures here ever since he landed. He guessed that this particular forest is a habitat for young or weak monsters, and does not have any overtly strong predators for them to strive and live. With that naive thought, the unknowing alien crawled happily alongside the rhythmic flow of the river¡­
¡°Achoo!¡± Sylph cutely sneezed from where she sat. ¡°Uh, I¡¯m not getting a cold or anything, am I?¡± She looked over her clothing, which is a bright green dress that has leaves for frills, and five giant leaves as its skirt. Suffice to say, it doesn¡¯t look like it¡¯s covering her body that well. Not to mention that she¡¯s atop Yggdrasil right now, where it reaches even above the lowest layer of clouds. ¡°Can I even get sick¡­?¡± She hasn¡¯t fallen sick before, at least. ¡°No, no. That¡¯s too stupid.¡± The wind elemental was idling on her usual spot, a random leaf on Yggdrasil¡¯s canopy. Her eyes were watching various things from her vantage position, like the wolves drinking from the river, slimes idling around a shrubbery and eating its berries, and other things. This is a part of her job as the guardian-- making sure that everything is ¡®normal¡¯ every day. This forest is considered a ¡®Dungeon¡¯ by the humans, last time she checked. A dungeon is a place where particularly above-normal humans-- more commonly known as adventurers-- raid and complete quests they have taken from their respective towns and cities. According to their ranking system, The Forest of Yggdrasil is a rank-D dungeon, a somewhat ¡®easy¡¯ dungeon to grind and complete quests to. Being ranked ¡®D¡¯ quite infuriated Sylph, but to be fair, the humans didn¡¯t know that she resides here. If they did, this forest would be ranked much, much higher. At least, that¡¯s what she says to herself¡­ which isn¡¯t really far from the truth. These adventurers often travel and enter her forest, killing random monsters or taking some known herbs and such. She doesn¡¯t really care much to their actions. Monsters reproduce fast, and in fact, they¡¯re actually helping her on keeping the population of the monsters in check. However, she doesn¡¯t tolerate humans snooping around near Yggdrasil, which is basically her home. She doesn¡¯t tolerate anything, actually. ¡°Eeh, so it was coming here after all¡­ How boring.¡± Sylph swung her feet dangling over the leaf she was sitting at. She was looking down at the crawling mass of flesh on the ground, the creature that she had been observing these past few days. Her face held that similar look last night, with her upper face darkened and her emerald eyes glowing an ominous green hue. ¡°I¡¯ve let you live because you¡¯ve somewhat entertained me, but¡­¡± her feet stopped moving. ¡°I don¡¯t want any creepies in my home.¡±If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. So she still had to resort to this in the end. She didn¡¯t want to end her fun this early, but if it¡¯s just going to be a nuisance from now on, then she¡¯d be better off killing it sooner rather than later. She flicked her fingers. After that one simple action, the whole forest seemed to shake, along with Yggdrasil itself. Flocks of birds flew up from the trees they were perched at, while weak monsters ran away from one specific direction¡­ A load roar broke out from the north of the forest. ¡°Elsie, you have a new playmate~.¡± the tiny fae giggled. ¡°Don¡¯t be too rough, okay?¡± she kept on talking to nobody while laughing. In a snap, her whole body froze, and her familiar cold expression returned. ¡°... Kill it.¡±
All of a sudden, everything was shaking around him. Even the river itself got shook around, throwing water all over the place. He actually had to crawl away or else he could have been thrown to the river and drowned to his death. ¡°Zuru...!¡± he stuck his tentacles on the ground, stabilizing his body for the most part. His right tentacle was still holding on his case while it¡¯s burrowed on the ground, so it was secured. It felt like a particularly strong earthquake. A piercing roar echoed around the whole forest. The sudden screech slightly surprised him, both from the shock itself and how loud it was. It sounded like a creature of some kind, not made by a machine or something. That was definitely a roar of a very large monster. And it¡¯s somewhere near him. This is bad. Just from that single sound, he can already imagine just how big it is. Vocal chords that are powerful enough to be heard from a mile away¡­ at the very least, it¡¯s not small. Yes, it¡¯s a mile away. Hearing something that loud, even his brain can compute that much. Well, if it¡¯s that far, he should be able to stay away from its path before it notices him-- Rumble. An uprooted tree, more than a hundred times larger than his body, landed right in front of him. Several trees were also flying in all direction, and the quaking of the planet seemed to get more intense by each passing second. ¡°R-ruru¡­?¡± all of his eyes stared up at the shadow looming over the trees to the north. It was moving fast towards his direction, destroying anything on its way. Each step from its gigantic eight legs sent tremors around where it stepped, with even web-like cracks forming on the very ground itself. This creature, a black and green arachnid reaching the height of a hundred meters, was definitely going after him. Its insectoid eyes were leering daggers into his, promising his quick and imminent death. For a moment, images of the top-predators on his planet flashed inside his mind. Their overwhelming power, speed, and defense, negating any tactical strategy even a genius would come up of. This spider exactly feels like one of those terrifying creatures. There¡¯s only one thing to do here. Faster than anyone could blink, he turned tail and crawled with all he had. ¡°K-Kururururu!¡± So this is why there weren¡¯t that many monsters in this forest. That thing is probably the ace predator of the food-chain here! With something like that roaming around his home, even he wouldn¡¯t be able to survive! Shadows flew past over his head, which likely came from the flying trees the monster sent everywhere. In a matter of seconds, the giant spider was already outside the forest and is already on the clearing near the river. If it¡¯s this fast, he¡¯d get chased down after ten seconds¡­ Why is it even chasing him? He probably won¡¯t even satisfy its stomach! Before his brain could even register it, a large hairy spider leg slammed into his right, and flung him back inside the forest.
¡°Helpless, weak, and coward. Hahaha!¡± Sylph laughed giddily to herself. Watching that thing running around like a frightened mouse was satisfying. ¡°Elsie, don¡¯t destroy the forest too much. Just kill it already, okay?¡± The spider, as if it heard her, screeched in a significantly lower tone. It hastily crawled towards the direction where it threw the strange red creature. She can already smell that monster¡¯s fear. Elsie, her pet Queen Arachnid, is quite terrifying. Before those adventurers started appearing on the forest, Elsie was originally the one culling the forest¡¯s population. Now that its job has been taken by the humans, it became idle and hibernated on the north side of the forest. Sylph tentatively watched as the spider brought up an unmoving set of red flesh to its face, and ate it in one gulp. The fairy wickedly smiled. ¡°Aaand you¡¯re dead.¡± 9: Ground Zero IX So this is how it feels to get eaten. It¡¯s quite painful¡­ and cold, the alien thought. The feeling of those giant sharp teeth grinding through his body is still fresh from his mind. Each bite felt like getting squashed in the middle of two walls-- and spiked ones at that. His Stage III body integrity, able to deflect normal strikes from a longsword, was rendered useless against such a beating. In the end, he was still made of a malleable, soft, easily tearable flesh, and the sad reality of him still being a weakling felt like a slap to his face. ¡°G-guru, ru¡­¡± Darkness greeted him upon the opening of his eyes. Well, he would have been more surprised if there was light here, he¡¯s inside that spider¡¯s stomach after all. He¡¯s floating on what he can only guess as the monster¡¯s gastric juices, it slowly melting him as the time goes by. Well, at least he can still feel something. That means he¡¯s still alive, barely as though he may be. And that¡¯s good! That way, he can enjoy the feeling of his body slowly melting and liquefying, coupled with its side effect mind-numbing pain. Isn¡¯t that great? ¡°Turu¡­¡± No, it¡¯s not. Like he¡¯s going to give up this early in his life. One measly super-predator monster isn¡¯t enough to deter him. One of his mantras is that there¡¯s always a solution to any problem, and if it really doesn¡¯t have one, then he¡¯ll just have to make one himself. First and foremost, he assessed the situation. This was already done a while ago, and he confirmed that he is indeed inside its stomach. Second would be checking his inventory. His case is missing, but he knows that he let go of it before he got eaten. It must be somewhere in the forest. His weapons are¡­ rendered useless at the moment, seeing as his tentacles can barely even move. He also doubts that his gastric juices would be effective to this one. It¡¯s a big monster, so it must have a much more powerful digestive system. This only leaves him with one offensive ability, and that¡¯s... his mouth. He tries biting the nearest surface he can touch. It¡¯s hard, at least harder than his body. His teeth can¡¯t bite through¡­ ¡°S-Suru¡­!¡± Another try. He needs to bite harder! Again. Again. ¡°Ruru!¡± This is the only ticket to his way out. Either he makes the monster throw him up outside, or he eats it from the inside. Whichever happens first doesn¡¯t matter. All he wants is to get out. And get out he¡¯ll do.
Meanwhile, on the outside, Sylph was congratulating her pet for a job well done. She flew up to its head and patted it with her tiny hands. It¡¯s doubtful if the gigantic monster can even feel her, but it looked elated nonetheless. ¡°Good girl, Elsie. How did that weird thing taste?¡± the fae lightly giggled in the end. The spider lets out a series of screech. ¡°Ooh, tomato? That¡¯s interesting.¡± Sylph kept to herself how the giant spider even knows what tomatoes taste like. ¡°Well, you can go back to your sleep now. I can handle the rest~.¡± The ¡®rest¡¯ is actually nothing, but the bestial monster doesn¡¯t have to know that. The green haired fairy watched as her pet lumbered back to its habitat, deep down the northern forest of Yggdrasil. It made quite the mess along the way, toppling over some trees here and there.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. The humongous spider, or better know as ¡®Elsie¡¯, is the apex predator of Yggdrasil. The monster had been living here even when Yggdrasil itself was still nothing but a mere sapling. Elsie had been helping the previous guardians of this forest for generations, and recently, her. Sure, Sylph already lived for a long time even before becoming a guardian herself, but she¡¯s still pretty sure that Elsie is far older than her. It¡¯s a mystery how no humans know about this monstrosity. Same to her, if they just know that a beast like Elsie is living here, this forest would have been ranked much higher than a ¡®D¡¯. Over her time looking over Yggdrasil, Sylph started treating the ancient monster as if it¡¯s her pet and even named her. Elsie didn¡¯t seem to mind and was actually happy about it. Sylph let out a deep sigh. ¡°Well, there goes my entertainment.¡± she lazily flew up to her home, wanting nothing but to sleep.
How long had he been doing this already? Two, three hours? It felt like forever to him. Even after biting anything that he can touch, it doesn¡¯t even seem to faze this spider. How much time does he have till he gets fully digested? He¡¯s starting to feel numb, and the fatigue is quickly settling in. It won¡¯t be long till he meets his demise¡­ ¡°Duru¡­¡± No. The answer must be here somewhere. He just can¡¯t¡­ see it¡­ ¡°Turu¡­?¡± That¡¯s right! This is a monster¡¯s stomach, so there must be other ¡®foods¡¯ in here! He¡¯ll be able to recuperate some of his strength, and with luck, he may even reach Stage IV! He started swimming around. He already scanned out the surface, and there¡¯s nothing floating here beside him. Still, there must be something on the bottom. After a quick dive, his barely working tentacles were able to grab something that feels organic, even though it does feel a little bit squishy after being doused in here for a long time. He didn¡¯t waste a second. Fully opening his circular mouth, he eats this unknown thing in one gulp. It was probably a trio of corpses merged together. Still, 612 isn¡¯t enough. If he remembers correctly, he has a total of 2,120 DNA. From what he has learned back in his world, Stage II¡¯s requirement is 400 DNA, while Stage III¡¯s is 1000 DNA. As for Stage IV, it¡¯s 2500 DNA. So, he still needs 380 DNA¡­ That Juvenile spiders gave 204 DNA each. So he needs to find two more to finally reach the next stage. Even better, he finds something that gives more DNA. He quickly dove back ¡®underwater¡¯ once again. He can¡¯t see anything, and he felt like one of his tentacles was missing already. Still, he never stopped. Deeper and deeper, until his one remaining tentacle touched something. He didn¡¯t even wait to get back on the surface. Desperate, he began to eat it on the spot, even lapping up some of the spider¡¯s gastric juices in the process.
The humongous spider¡¯s eyes snapped back awake. Pain coursed through its whole body. Its blissful sleep was turned into a nightmare in mere seconds. It frantically stood up and began smashing its body to anything, even rolling on the ground in a vain attempt to stop whatever was causing this to the monster. Trees were blown away, the land was leveled, but its bloodcurdling screech never stopped. No matter what it did, the stinging feeling from within its body never left. It didn¡¯t understand what¡¯s happening. It can¡¯t see anyone nearby that might be causing this pain, and it doesn¡¯t think that this is a mental magic attack of some kind. Elsie would have noticed from a mile away if that was the case, and crushed whoever dared to even think about it. So this didn¡¯t make sense to the monster. It can¡¯t see anyone, can¡¯t feel anything, and yet this pain wouldn¡¯t stop. Elsie¡¯s cries of anguish eventually began to die down, along with its body. It fell on the ground, with some of its leg twitching for the very last time. On a certain part of its stomach, something tries poking out from inside. It dented higher and higher, until something finally burst out. There stood a triumphant familiar alien, all covered in blood, gore, and yellow gastric juices. ¡°Wuru!¡± it saluted with its recently regenerated tentacle and made a happy noise. 10: Ground Zero X The whole forest quieted along with the monster¡¯s cry. Their apex predator, the Arachnid Herald, or better known as the Elsie, has somehow died. For whatever reason, something was able to kill this terrifying beast, and trumped over its formerly insurmountable strength. Was it their guardian, the Wind Spirit Sylph? No, they all know how close the two powerful beings are. As far as they know, Sylph held the ancient monster as close as her pet and had never even raised her voice to it. Besides, if they did fight, everyone would have been able to see the tiny fairy¡¯s magic from anywhere. Since there weren¡¯t any gigantic tornadoes and compressed air orbs flying around, that couldn¡¯t be it. Then that left them with the only possible answer. Something else killed the Arachnid Herald. Something far stronger, ruthless, and frightening¡­ and the very idea of this something even existing terrified them to their core. It terrified them so much, that these so-called monsters, feared for their cruelty and savagery, ran away from their very home. All kinds of creatures-- from the mindless green slimes to the intelligent and powerful wolves-- was left scurrying away from the center of the forest, from Yggdrasil. The very idea of that something chasing them fueled their nightmare-filled minds. The instinct of avoiding danger, like how normal slimes avoid bodies of water like the plague, was the only thing they needed to know everything. They will die if they stop. So they ran, and ran, and ran¡­ Except for one tiny little fairy. A fairy full of hatred and anger; a fairy full of intent to kill.
After finally reaching Stage IV, he received , which granted him the ability to ¡®rotate¡¯ his three circular rows of teeth. It allowed him to bite through the monster¡¯s hard flesh with ease. It honestly felt harder than a boulder, and yet with this new ability, he plowed through it like it was paper. In comparison, he can probably bite through boulders with little to no effort now. Maybe he can use it to dig or something. But then, he¡¯d have to eat dirt and stone... and dirt doesn¡¯t taste good. Probably a bad idea. Instead of eating useless things, he¡¯d rather eat this fine meat below him. Maybe he can also use more for a better test drive. ¡°Buru~.¡± sounds like a plan. He jumped back inside the hole he made and dug through another layer of meat. He felt like a mole digging through the earth-- a tasty, DNA-filled earth. Even bones were reduced to splinters when he passed through them, and sometimes he¡¯d go straight outside as he doesn¡¯t know if he was already at the edge of its body or not. Still, even with this ability, he guessed that he¡¯d take a while before he can finish it, and receive its DNA. This spider is really big, even towering over the roots of Yggdrasil. And it¡¯s barely even noon, so maybe before night time? For now, he¡¯ll just enjoy the sweet taste of his victo-- A sound of the air being sliced over, then an explosion. Everything happened so fast. He was just about to enter the monster¡¯s body again, but then a giant crescent wave of condensed air exploded near him. The sheer force of the collision alone wrecked the surrounding land, and the following explosion of dust and gust sent several trees flying on the sky along with him. He dully landed on a random spot in the forest, his body broken and unmoving all over once again. That single attack was enough to incapacitate his newly evolved body like it was nothing. Sparing a side glance later, he noticed how there¡¯s suddenly a 500 kilometer-wide crater where he once was, with the spider¡¯s corpse nowhere in sight. It must have been flung somewhere, too. He¡­ doesn¡¯t know what¡¯s happening. All he knows is that a tiny fly is hovering right above him, and it¡¯s speaking gibberish language that¡¯s similar to those humans from before. It looked a lot more harmless than the spider, but, somehow¡­Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. The aura it gives off is making him shiver. ¡°What have you done, you pest?!¡±
This annoying thing¡­ it killed her pet! It killed Elsie! At first, Sylph couldn¡¯t believe it. Elsie is by no means a pushover. She¡¯s the Arachnid Herald, one of the few ancient monsters still living to these days. She¡¯s, to the very essence, a powerful creature. And yet this, this unknown garbage, killed her. As soon as Sylph flew to the direction of Elsie¡¯s nest, she immediately saw the unmoving corpse of her dear pet. That moment, all Sylph saw was red, and mindlessly erased a fraction of the forest in a single blow. If she¡¯s really being honest though, she could care less for this god-damned forest. Only Yggdrasil itself mattered. ¡°You¡¯re even more annoying than that stupid Demon Lord!¡± she flew around in circles, all the while bobbing her balled up hands up and down. ¡°Things like you are the ones that I hate the most¡­ I should have killed you the first time I heard about you.¡± She abruptly stopped and looked over the alien¡¯s crumpled figure. ¡°I¡¯ll fix that mistake now.¡± Sylph raised a hand, a swirling ball of green energy floating up above it. Even without knowing anything, anyone could feel the sheer amount of mana emanating from that single orb. It just goes to show how powerful guardians, and spirits, are. ¡°Die and stay dead!¡±
This tiny being clearly feels superior to that giant spider. The sheer amount of mana that he can feel from its body is frightening. Compared to that of those humans he met before, even including that girl who destroyed his ship, their powers would be laughable. Compared to him, he must be beneath trash to this being. He saw it raised its tiny hand, with his gaze stuck on that green glowing ball of energy above it. It¡¯s going to kill him, but what can he do? Him being able to kill that spider was just a stroke of luck. How could he possibly hope to defeat something even stronger than that? If he was just able to finish eating that spider, he could have gotten a huge amount of DNA, even possibly jumping him up to the first milestone of Red Fleshlings; Stage V. Then, he might have had a chance against this fly¡­ ¡°Kuru¡­!¡± Little by little, their surrounding began to darken. But that isn¡¯t possible anymore. For all he knows, the corpse of that monster might still be flying on the sky right now. It could have also landed far far away from where he is. The possibility is limitless. ¡°Du¡­ ru?¡± Why is everything so dark all of a sudden? It couldn¡¯t be possible that it¡¯s already night time. See, the sun still up¡­ there. They both looked up, only to see a huge black mass right above them. It was falling at an incredible rate, and as it got closer, its appearance was slowly revealed. Crash! With a thunderous bang, the splattered remains of the giant spider laid unmoving on the ground, right on top of the dying alien. The tiny fly was able to quickly move out of the way, thus avoiding being crushed to death like the aforementioned monster. ¡°Z-Zuru¡­¡± It really looks like this is his lucky day. He still had stock food on his stomach from the bits of flesh he ate before, and some of the spider¡¯s. He regenerated right when it crashed at him, thus also regenerating the injuries he got when it hit him. It required precision and a little bit of luck, but he managed to pull it off altogether with his newly evolved Brain. That¡¯s how he avoided dying from being crushed. This time, he¡¯s going to avoid that death-incarnate fly. He doesn¡¯t have enough time to savor this fine meal anymore. He¡¯ll have to resort to his more ¡®savage¡¯ instinct; the instinct to consume everything. And consume he will. He opened up his mouth wide, activated his , then took a large chomp off of the spider.
Sylph watched in horror as a large toothed mouth appeared right below Elsie, most probably coming from that monster. Several questions popped out on her mind. How is it still alive from being crushed? It can grow that big? Did it just eat half of Elsie¡¯s body in a matter of seconds? Among all these questions, the one that stood out the most would probably be¡­ ¡°What, are you?¡±
11: Ground Zero XI One second later, Elsie was already missing half her corpse. It was so bizarre and unbelievable, Sylph¡¯s mind lagged behind before it registered inside her. Before she could raise her voice once again, that thing was already munching the entirely of her deceased pet, up to her very bone. Five seconds. That¡¯s all it took for Elsie¡¯s gigantic body to be eaten. Elsie¡¯s height, specifically, is around 300 feet. Compared to that, Yggdrasil reaches over 900 feet and it¡¯s still growing. Elsie is almost a third of Yggdrasil and yet, this tiny, unassuming monster whose size isn¡¯t even that large compared to a goblin, ate her in a matter of seconds¡­ Sylph, for the first time in her life, actually looked shocked and a little bit of terrified. She got ahold of herself quickly, however. Losing focus in the middle of a fight is the worst thing anybody can ever do. At the back of her mind, she realized that she was considering this a ¡®fight¡¯ now, unlike earlier. The idea irritated the tiny fairy. ¡°You¡¯re hundreds of years early to even think of fighting me, worm¡­!¡± with narrowed eyes, Sylph glared at the now normal-sized red alien, it having finished its lunch. ¡°I am the Wind Spirit Guardian, Sylph!¡± ¡°Wind, blast that thing into pieces!¡±
He heard the tiny fly squeak something or another, but he can¡¯t really understand fly-language. He knew that it¡¯s angry though. Its face was all red, and it looked like it was going to pop off like a balloon there and then. Maybe it¡¯s because of his Stage IV brain, but¡­ he doesn¡¯t feel scared anymore. Well, not as terrified as before. He gained a significant amount of mass, but with the Enhanced Crawling Speed, he feels even lighter than when he was still small. This new found speed helped him dodge a surprise attack from the fly, what with it suddenly throw a spear of air towards him. Even though it was flying fast enough to send waves of air spiraling around it, he was still able to quickly move to the side and avoid what most likely would have been a fatal blow. Not only him, but the green fly also looked shocked. The spear of air exploded on a tree it hit behind him, sending a strong gust of wind all over the forest. If his calculation is right, his speed has almost tripled from before. To be fair though, his former top-speed is barely seven miles per hour. So he¡¯s not fast¡­ just not slow. Still, for him, this will certainly be helpful. He quickly dashed towards his opponent, with his activated and ready to shed blood. Right before reaching the fly, he jumped into the air, all the while spinning his bones wide around him. However, his spinning attack was met with resistance by an invisible wind barrier of some sort and promptly blasted him away from the fly. He landed several feet away from it, on the opposite direction of the crater and with the unscathed part of the forest behind him. The fly looked smug after deflecting his first attack. It was even giving him the tongue. So it has a defense mechanism too. From his earlier evaluations, she seemed nimble, destructive, and also has a form of defense. All in all, a perfectly balanced opponent.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Balanced build is a safe strategy¡­ but also cowardly. This is the weakness he had been looking for in this seemingly all-powerful fly. Balance may mean you¡¯re not weak on any front, but it also means that you¡¯re not powerful on any. This will be just a matter of him finding her weakest link. After that, this fight will be over.
Everything is good. It can¡¯t touch her with her barrier activated. And she can keep it for weeks thanks to her nigh-infinite amount of mana. There¡¯s nothing to fear here. Sylph couldn¡¯t help the smirk on her face when she saw the monster got effortlessly deflected away from her. She was wary of it eating her whole like Elsie before, but since it isn¡¯t doing it, that ability must be limited, or have a special condition for it to be used. That¡¯s her conclusion. Aside from that, she¡¯s superior in all aspects compared to that monster. There¡¯s no logical way for it to defeat her. ¡°In the end, you¡¯re still just a pest. You killing Elsie was just a fluke, and I¡¯ll thoroughly make you regret that!¡± Sylph summoned a huge amount of smaller condensed orbs of air behind her and sent it flying towards the monster. She watched in amusement as it tried hard to zigzag and dodge away from her attack. All the projectiles that missed sent patches of land exploding upon contact. Inevitability, some managed to graze and even directly hit the monster, earning her the sweet sound of the monster screeching in pain. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you¡¯re still in one piece!¡± she cackled as she continued on sending the volleys of wind orbs. With a sudden stop, the alien suddenly shot towards her again, reminiscing a speeding red bullet. Sylph strengthened her barrier ages ago before it even approached her, and was able to block yet another sword strike from the monster. ¡°This is getting annoying. Just die already!¡± Sylph began to summon a crescent, giant concentrated mass of wind above her, the same one that etched the 500-kilometer wide crater behind her. She was going to throw it to the monster whose right in front of her. She knew that she¡¯d be unharmed anyway, and it¡¯s not like somebody¡¯s going to scold her if she erased 30 percent of the forest in one day¡­ The monster just stood there like a statue, probably crippled from fear of finally dying. Sylph laughed it off in her mind. With a wave of her hand, the gigantic projectile fell down on both of them, resulting in a massive explosion¡­ at least, that was what would have happened if she hadwaved her hand. Sylph tried hard to turn her head, but she only managed to get a glance of her stiff raised hand. Even turning her eyes became a chore. Actually, now that she noticed it, she can¡¯t move her whole body. Her fae wings stopped its movements, sending her spiraling down to the ground. Even as she landed, her body still remained as it was before. ¡°W¡­ What¡­ is¡­¡± Sylph tried to move her mouth and utter some words, but could ultimately only mutter a few unintelligible words. Her Wind Guard, the thing that she trusted the most to protect her from anything, vanished into nothingness. All of a sudden, Sylph felt exposed to the world; to the dangers that can easily kill a measly, tiny fairy like her¡­ Like that approaching red mass of death.
¡°Ruru¡­¡± Ability . A new organ developed inside his body, which can create different kinds of toxins that he can discharge in the form of liquid, or gas. Unfortunately, he still only has one kind of toxin right now, but... the paralysis toxin worked better than he expected. Slipping in some gaseous paralytic toxin on his second attack was a piece of cake for him. He just had to pierce its barrier even just for a little, and the gas was able to get in by itself. Not only that but since it was completely covered by that barrier, he guessed that the toxin got even more concentrated inside, worsening its effects and speeding up the process of entering its body. In short, he turned its almost perfect defense against itself. But that wasn¡¯t the ¡®weakest link¡¯ he found on the fly, either. Its weakest link was its overconfidence; the idea of losing never crossed its mind, most probably. A typical mindset for an overtly powerful being. He can only guess the state of its mind now, now that¡¯s he¡¯s the one in power. He menacingly looked down on its form, with his two swords raised and ready to strike true. He didn¡¯t know flies can cry. Well, he learns something every day. 12: Ground Zero XII Sylph knew she made a fatal mistake somewhere. As she stared at the ivory sword raised above her head, something flashed through her mind. =[A few hundred years ago¡­]= Slowly, a pair of saplings sprung forth in the middle of the towering trees. Its leaves steadily grew and grew, along with its bright and yellow petals. These two flowers entangled one another, covering their core for a second and releasing all together on the next. There, two tiny fairies laid asleep, with their hands tightly holding each other. That moment marked the birth of the Twin Wind Spirits, Sylph and Aria. Sylph possessed the color of nature; bright-emerald green. Her hair flowed smoothly like the rhythmic stream of a river, and her petite face carried the innocence one can usually find from such a newborn being. Aria¡¯s hair, on the other hand, was white as the cold winters of December, while her skin held an unhealthy pale hue in them. Even asleep, her expression was as sharp and icy like the northern lands. The first to wake up from the twin was Sylph. Inch by inch, she lifted her eyelids for the first time, and gazed upon the scenery of the forest they were in. Sylph looked unamused. Bored, even. Sylph sat up from their flower bed, yawning. ¡°So this is my world¡­¡± she glanced from left to right, to the endless horizon of flora, and to the faraway kingdom of the humans. Sylph¡¯s gaze stayed to her right, on the direction of the city. She turned back her gaze beside her upon noticing the sudden movements of her ¡®bed¡¯. Her twin stretched up her arms in a lazy fashion and yawned. Aria, the white-haired Wind Spirit, rubbed the corner of her eyes before she realized just what happened. ¡°¡­ Oh! I¡¯m alive now! Yey!¡± ¡°... You¡¯re so loud.¡± Sylph covered her ears, with a small frown on her face. ¡°We just woke up.¡± Ironically, their characters are the opposites of their appearance. While Sylph looked a lot more like the original wind spirit described from the legends, she always held that no-nonsense look on her face. Her tone always sounded dead, plus her words always held that phantom sting on them¡­ Sylph rolled her eyes in annoyance. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t be like that, Sylph!¡± Aria shot up into a stand, giddy and smiling. ¡°It¡¯s our new world! Our new home! Isn¡¯t it so pretty?¡± Aria may literally look icy, weak, and gloomy with her pale skin, but she was nothing like that. Aria marveled on every butterfly that flew her way, smelled each flower that attracted her attention, and was that kind of person that always wished for world peace. ¡°I don¡¯t like the smell here. Too earthy.¡± Sylph scratched her nose in irritation. ¡°It¡¯s the smell of nature. It¡¯s nice!¡± Aria flew away, going deeper into the forest. Sylph resisted the urge to roll her eyes again, and followed. Thus, the life of the Twin Wind Spirits began.
Aria loved her new home dearly. She mainly took care of the forest they were born in, talking to the plants every day and petting the occasional monsters that stray near her. Meanwhile, Sylph spent her days sleeping, idling and sleeping some more. This kind of mundane lifestyle went on for years and years, without anything in particular happening¡­ at least, anything in particular for these two¡¯s taste. ¡°Sylph, it¡¯s our job to take care of the forest, you know¡­?¡± Aria nudged her sleeping twin. Like every time, Sylph was lounging on a random leaf of a tree in the middle of the day. Since they cannot afford to neglect on taking care of their home, Aria was left to herself on making everything work, while her lazy, good-for-nothing twin slept all day. ¡°Shut up, will you? Can¡¯t you see I¡¯m resting here?¡± Sylph snapped back, her eyebrows furrowed in irritation. ¡°But, can¡¯t you even just take care of the flowers here? At least help me with that¡­¡± The green-haired wind spirit just rolled to her left in reply. ¡°M-Maybe later then, when you wake up.¡± Aria gave a nervous laugh, then flew off to a part of the forest that she hasn¡¯t checked for that day. Upon looking closer, it was obvious that Sylph was still awake, what with her eyes still wide open in annoyance. ¡°Geez, you¡¯re too perfect, Aria¡­¡± She whispered to nobody as she finally drifted into sleep.
Centuries have passed ever since. Humanity¡¯s prowess and population began to swell on this age, giving birth to the powerful and talented humans called adventurers. Some of these people started seeking Sylph and Aria in hope of receiving the Wind Spirit¡¯s Blessing, an innate power bestowed upon the heroes of the legend. Well, mostly Aria. ¡°Oh great wind spirit, please bless us with your presence on our kingdom!¡± One day, a platoon of humans visited the outskirts of their forest, and called themselves the ¡®Holy Church¡¯ or something of the humans. Apparently, the Elemental Spirits are a big part of humanity¡¯s main religion, and are regarded as high as the saints themselves. Upon learning of the existence of the Wind Spirit residing on the nearby forest of their kingdom, these humans hastily traveled right away in order to make contact with them. ¡°A-Ah, I am not great or anything. I only take care of the forest, nothing more¡­¡± Aria was the one who answered the call of these humans. She quickly flew towards them as soon as she heard their voices from her dwelling. ¡°Of course, it was said in the holy script that the great wind spirit is the most humblest out of all the elemental spirits!¡± The old man with the ivory robe kept on rambling about Aria¡¯s magnificence. Unsurprisingly, this did nothing but to embarrass the poor fairy. Much to her relief, her twin sister Sylph swooped into her rescue, and literally dragged her by her dress back to their tree. Aria heard the distressed yells of the human until she and Sylph got too far. ¡°What are you doing talking to those things?¡± Her older sister threw her in the air in front. Aria steadied herself mid-air with a flap of her wings, but her eyes still spun in a daze for a moment there. ¡°Stop associating yourself with those humans. They¡¯ll never bring you anything good.¡± ¡°T-That¡¯s a lie! Humans are kind!¡± Aria hands were closed in a tight fist, and a small pout could be seen on her face. ¡°They always give me fruits when they see me!¡± ¡°How many times do I have to tell you¡­ don¡¯t trust humans-- don¡¯t trust anyone! Even yourself!¡± their faces were red in anger as they glare at each other. ¡°You¡¯re too naive for your own good!¡±If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Being naive isn¡¯t a bad thing! Why do you always hate me!¡± tears spilled on Aria¡¯s eyes as her lips trembled. Sylph had her mouth wide open in surprise. She hastily shook her head right after, however. ¡°I¡¯ve never hated you. I just care for you!¡± ¡°No! You¡¯re always lying! You always said that you¡¯ll help me take care of the forest, but you never did!¡± She covered her eyes with her arm and fluttered away in a hurry. ¡°If you hate me, then I hate you too!¡± ¡°Aria!¡± Sylph tried giving chase to her sister, but unsurprisingly, the younger fairy was faster than her. She was always flying every day, not to mention that she already knew the forest like the back of her hand. Barely a minute passed and Aria already lost her. ¡°Stupid, stupid, stupid!¡± she covered her eyes as she flew blindly through the forest. ¡°Sylph, why are you so stupid!¡± She can¡¯t understand her sister at all. There were days that she completely ignored her. Other times, like today, she scolded her as if she cared for her. ¡°... Stupid¡­.¡±
One day, Aria woke up from the trickle of raindrops hitting her face. It had been a long time since it rained this hard. It was even reaching her even though she sleeps in the middle of a large tree. Turning to her side, she noticed that her sister, who¡¯s usually still sleeping at that time, wasn¡¯t there. A quick glance to her surrounding further confirmed that Sylph was really missing. ¡°Sylph¡­?¡± Aria gingerly rubbed her puffy eyes and yawned. ¡°Where are you?¡± No answer. Only the rhythmic sound of the raindrops outside her literal tree house. ¡°Where did she go?¡± now wide awake, Aria began to worry for her sister¡¯s well-being. Yes, she told Sylph that she hates her, but she can¡¯t fool herself. She could never hate anyone, let alone her sole sister. Plucking a single piece of leaf from the thousands surrounding her, she flew out into the raging storm outside. She could hear the wind howl, and the thunder rumbling in the background didn¡¯t sound nice at all. Nevertheless, she started looking for her missing sister. She searched every tree in the forest, thinking that Sylph might just have moved into a different one. When she found no one, she then checked each leaf swaying about in the storm. Still nothing. Desperate, she even started looking under rocks, wanting to think that it was just a bad joke and that Sylph was just playing hide and seek with her. Nothing. She literally searched the entirety of the forest already, and not a single sign of her sister. Aria didn¡¯t know what to do anymore. Maybe she left her. Maybe she hated her so much that she couldn¡¯t even stand living with her anymore. Aria stayed still in the air with all these thoughts plaguing her mind. Her hands holding her makeshift umbrella was shivering not from the cold, but from the fear being possibly abandoned by Sylph. ¡°Sylph, where are you?! Please answer me!¡± high and low, she never stopped. She accidentally let go of her leaf after a particularly strong gust of wind, but she didn¡¯t even care anymore. She just wanted to find her sister. ¡°Sylph! Sylph! P-please don¡¯t leave me! I don¡¯t hate you!¡± She didn¡¯t know that Sylph would leave her just for that. Maybe deep inside, Sylph actually really care for her, and after hearing her say that¡­ even anyone would probably be devastated too. Thinking more and more about it just further worsened her anxiety and despair. Now truly desperate for anything, she began to fly outside the forest¡­ Not even after a minute of flying, she reached a wrecked plain littered with human corpses. Sword, spears, and arrows were scattered about around the battlefield, while large craters can be seen here and there. There were also uprooted trees thrown about from her forest. All in all, it looked like a tornado from hell ran through the whole place. On the middle laid a single hill; thousands of swords were stabbed on the ground, along with a lone spear at its highest point. There, on top of the blade of this mysterious golden weapon was her sister¡¯s cold corpse. Skewered right on the center of her stomach, the tip of the blade even reached past her back, nearly tearing her tiny figure in two. Lightning roared on the background, while the rain and wind got fiercer and wilder. Aria¡¯s mind couldn¡¯t comprehend what she¡¯s seeing. Spear, blood, Sylph¡­ she repeated these words over and over inside her mind. Each cycle, she flew closer to her sister, along with her mind to reality. A foot away from Sylph, Aria finally realized just what happened. ¡°Sister¡­ Sister¡­¡± She wanted to help her, to touch her, but couldn¡¯t. Afraid that she¡¯ll bring her even more pain than what she¡¯s already suffering from. Instead, she could only bawl in sorrow in front of the green-haired wind spirit. ¡°W-Wake up, sister¡­ Why aren¡¯t you waking up? What happened?¡± ¡°Who did this to you?¡± Sylph remained unresponsive. Her glassy eyes never changed. The sound of clanking metal instantly alerted the fae to something behind her. There, a survivor soldier was sneakily trying to crawl away from her, even with a missing foot and amputated arm. Looking at the other humans surrounding him, this man got the least amount of damage, it seemed. Hence him still being alive. Aria pointed her palm towards the bleeding soldier and levitated him in the air. He started panicking when he saw how furious Aria was. ¡°Who are you? We¡¯re you the one who killed my sister?¡± ¡°W-We were the soldiers sent by the nearby kingdom of Gurendon. We were supposed to guide the great Wind Spirit to the capital, and--¡± Some flew near his right cheek. A small cut appeared, followed by the small trickle of blood. ¡°Don¡¯t take me for a fool. Who are you people?!¡± tears streamed down her face even as she screamed. The soldier could only gulp. ¡°... The king heard about the Wind Spirit existing on this forest. He ordered us to eliminate you.¡± With a desperate laugh, the man sneered at the quiet fairy. ¡°You may look harmless, but a monster is a monster! It¡¯ll only be a matter of time before you lash out and try to destroy our kingdom! Anything we do to you, you deserve it and some mo--¡± He didn¡¯t get the time to finish his sentence before he started gasping for air. Aria watched with her uncaring eyes as the man slowly choked to death from the lack of air. Aria was blocking his nose and mouth with her wind, preventing anything to enter and exit. Then all of a sudden, she filled his lungs with a huge amount of air. His lungs ruptured from being stretched out too much. She let go of her magic when the man¡¯s remaining foot stopped kicking. Her killing the human wasn¡¯t the result of her anger to him. It was the result of her anger to herself. All this time, her sister kept on telling her to never trust anyone, especially humans. Aria always tried to defend them, but¡­ It looks like she was horribly wrong. The humans never worshiped her. They were slowly planning out her demise. She could have died. But why did Sylph try to save her? Why did she fight them alone? Did she not trust Aria to be much of a help in an actual fight? No, that wasn¡¯t it. ¡°I¡¯ve never hated you. I just care for you!¡± All this time, Sylph really did love her. Sylph really did consider her as her twin. Sylph¡­ really was her sister. And now, because of Aria¡¯s naivety and foolishness, her sister is dead. All because of her. This morning sucked. Aria doesn¡¯t feel like taking care of the forest for today¡­ or tomorrow. Or even the next-next day. Actually, no. Who is Aria?¡­ That¡¯s right. Aria¡¯s supposed to be dead. No, she is dead. Because she was naive and stupid. Yes, that was it. In respect of her deceased sister, Ari--, Sylph made a small grave right where she died. She knelt in front of it for weeks, never moving for even an inch. She just kept her gaze on the small tombstone she erected above her sister¡¯s grave, never uttering a single word. Before long, a small sapling began to grow on her sister¡¯s grave.
Sylph stared at the great tree of Yggdrasil, crying. For a moment there, she saw her entire life flash right before her eyes. She¡¯s probably going to die now. And she¡­ doesn¡¯t want to. ¡°P¡­ Please¡­ don¡¯t¡­¡± she tried hard to move her frozen lips. Word by word, she tried to convey what could be likely her final words. ¡°Please¡­ don¡¯t kill Sylph¡­! I¡¯m begging you!¡± The alien doesn¡¯t really seem to understand her. But she doesn¡¯t care. There¡¯s nothing else that she can do. ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ do anything¡­ everything¡­ just¡­ don¡¯t kill¡­¡± ¡®Sylph¡¯ closed her eyes in a vain attempt to stop her cry. ¡°my sister¡­!¡± A swing from that sword will undoubtedly kill her. These next few seconds will be the most crucial moment of her lifetime. 13: Ground Zero Finale Though he may not understand the fly, he can instinctively know that it¡¯s begging for mercy; A crying face, a shaking body, and a despair-filled expression. Funnily enough, that¡¯s how exactly he looked like when they first met earlier. Everything cowers beneath a superior being. It¡¯s an unspoken rule of life. The strong thrives and survives, while the weak dwindles and perishes. It¡¯s not what decides the battle. The battle decides who¡¯s stronger. He won and it lost, therefore he¡¯s strong and it¡¯s weak. While magic may have been a very powerful weapon against him, this fly obviously didn¡¯t have that much skill in using it. Kind of like him with his swords: he¡¯s just swinging it around with brute force, with no knowledge in sword-fighting whatsoever. True, its attacks¡¯ firepower was truly phenomenal, but that was it. If it was a bit more fortunate, it could have hit him with a random shot, and thus spelling out his end. Alas, the emerald fly wasn¡¯t so lucky today. If he was honest, he thought that the fight with the spider was actually harder. But then again, that is that, and this is where he¡¯s at now. ¡°Kuru¡­¡± Amidst the broken, fallen trees and the numerous craters around them, he and the fly were nearing the end of their fight. There¡¯s only the decisive blow to be had. He has his swords raised up above him, ready to end this fly¡¯s pathetic life as he should. Meanwhile, the emerald fly was a crying mess. Even though it can¡¯t fully move its body around due to the paralytic toxic inside its body, it was still able to feebly shake and tremble in a pitiful attempt to dissuade him from killing it.
¡°N-No, please, I¡¯ll do whatever you want! I-I can tell you a lot of things, a-anything!¡± Sylph never stopped pleading to the mute monster. It looks like her tongue and mouth can fully move now, though her voice still sounded shaky. ¡°J-Just don¡¯t kill my sister¡­ don¡¯t, kill me¡­!¡± The Wind Spirit truly didn¡¯t want to die. Despite what many would think about her, Sylp--, Aria, at this moment, wasn¡¯t being the usual selfish she is. She was genuinely trying to avoid seeing her sister ¡®die¡¯ again. The other half of her reason is¡­ she¡¯s just simply afraid of dying. Her pride, be it a sham or not, has been broken to pieces. She actually lost to something far weaker than her. This monster might have already scarred her for life just like those humans. But that¡¯s okay, she can live that off¡­ she¡¯ll just have to avoid this thing forever. And survive right now. ¡°So please, please¡­¡± she closed her eyes as she saw the blade nearing her. ¡°Don¡¯t¡­!¡± A few seconds passed, but nothing happened. Aria tentatively opened her eyes. To her surprise and utter delight, the monster¡¯s swords are gone now, having been retracted back to its tentacles. The tiny fairy felt a huge weight off her shoulders. ¡°Thank you, thank you!¡± even though she was smiling, her tears never stopped. Maybe she¡¯s just overjoyed? Yeah, that must have been it. ¡°Thank you¡­¡± It surely isn¡¯t because of the bloodlust still pouring out like tidal waves from the monster. When she noticed it crawl closer, she shrugged it off. When she saw it raise its frontal body and show its gaping mouth, her smile froze, and her eyes dilated. When its horrific mouth and hundred teeth were literally baring down on her, a single pair of tears fell from her eyes. With a snap, she felt the needle-like teeth bit through her tender flesh like a hot knife through butter. It wasn¡¯t any thicker than her hair, yet still, the pain that coursed through her body silence her screams. It plunged through her limbs, her stomach, her face¡­ her eyes. Up till her very last second, she heard her sister¡¯s voice inside her mind.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Don¡¯t trust anybody. Even yourself!¡± Her first mistake was that she trusted the humans. When her sister died, she vowed to become her in order for ¡®Sylph¡¯ to ¡®continue living¡¯, and rectify the mistake that resulted in her sister¡¯s death. As if history repeated itself, Aria made another mistake again¡­ this time, she trusted herself too much. ¡°Scary¡­ monster.¡± With that, The Wind Spirit Guardian, Aria, has finally died.
On second thought, he refrained from slicing and melting the fly with his . He was afraid that if it melted, he wouldn¡¯t even have anything to eat by then. Its body was so small, so its melted bits wouldn¡¯t probably be that much¡­ what if it got absorbed by the land beneath it? That¡¯s what he thought. Instead, he just killed it with his mouth, then subsequently ate it. He made sure to thoroughly chew the fly. He wouldn¡¯t want to die from the inside like that spider before. At first, he couldn¡¯t believe what he heard. Twenty thousand DNAs? Just from that small fly? Indeed, now that he knows its name, it does sound grandiose and special¡­ but it was just a fly. Well, not that he¡¯s complaining. He¡¯ll take all the ¡®free¡¯ DNA he can get! From that absurd amount of DNAs, he was able to soar through Stage VI, and is currently in Stage VII. He¡¯s certainly growing at an alarming rate. Normally, Red Fleshling takes years to fully reach their final stage, and yet here he is, already over half of his stage-line even though it hasn¡¯t even been a week since he came here. He gained some things that sound useful, but sadly, he doesn¡¯t know its definitions anymore. He¡¯ll have to wait until he builds an information room or something. Speaking of building¡­ He knew that he had to defeat a Base Leader1 in order to claim an occupied Land2, but¡­ to think that this forest was already owned. And by that fly nonetheless! Truly, eating that fly was really worth it! With this, he can now start creating his own base-- his own home. Food wouldn¡¯t be much of a problem anymore, along with farming DNAs! This is the true start of his invasion. With a functional base behind his back, nothing will be able to stop him now! ¡°Ku ru ru ru ru!¡± his fleshy body was wriggling in anticipation of what to come for his future. His conquest of this world shall finally begin!
While the oblivious alien revel upon his new victory, the world grew silent. One of the four elemental spirits¡¯ energy has vanished without a trace. Though they may not actually see it, a spirit¡¯s energy can be felt throughout the whole world. Normal people may not be able to accurately tell what really is, but the powerful beings residing in this world could certainly tell. The Wind Spirit has died. The other elementals¡­
In a desert wasteland, away from human civilization, a small girl with black skin stared at the sky, her soulless eyes slightly widening for some reason. Beneath the deep blue sea, on the kingdom of the fishfolk, a mermaid snapped awake from her peaceful slumber. And finally, over the hundreds of volcanoes on the treacherous lands near the demon country, a bipedal, flaming demon resembling a ram closed its eyes, and roared.
The Lords¡­ and even the Gods themselves. The death of the Wind Spirit sent a wide ripple throughout the whole world. The alien, blissfully ignorant of what he did, couldn¡¯t have possibly known what is coming for him. The eyes of the world have shifted, and it''s looking for him.
Somewhere deep beneath the forest of Yggdrasil, a flower grew into maturity in a matter of seconds. Its yellow petals resembled the sun at its peak; lustrous and bright. It was folded in a way that its core was covered, looking like a shell of some kind. The flower wriggled for a moment, but stopped. In a miraculous stroke of luck, a lone sunlight struck the flower. There, a visible shadow of something can be seen through the yellow petals¡­ It trembled and trembled, as if excited. 14: Side Mission, Two Opposing Sides ¡°The Order of Sylphus have returned!¡± A chorus of cheers and praise followed suit after the arrival of the said group. The Capital of Sherra, as usual, revered to their most successful and popular knights and mages, who had just recently completed a mission of most importance and urgency. From left to right, children to elderly sung praises to the marching people, all the while showering them in flowers and whatnot. The news that a rogue meteor spell was going to land on their territory spread fast among the citizens of Sherra. People who could cast spells beyond the hundred-level line are very few, with the continent of Sherra only having five people achieving said feat in history. One of these illustrious people is Chief Commander Stella C. Sherra, the leader of the Order of Sylphus¡­ or more commonly known as Princess Stella. Slowly, the pair of carriages passed through the crowd waiting for them. Stella was waving her hand outside from the window of their vehicle, her smile ever so bright and firm. On the inside though, her thoughts were in turmoil and worry. ¡®An unknown monster¡­ and right after that, an exodus?¡¯ the two adventurers they met are here with them in the capital. She¡¯ll talk to them more after they arrive at the castle. Houses and shops of different variety littered the whole capital. She could see the main branch of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild, its bright red roof visible miles away from where she was. Even beyond that is the royal palace of the Sherra Kingdom, and Stella¡¯s own home. It towered over any building in the whole capital, and probably even the whole continent. With its highest point even piercing through the very clouds, and a size spanning over half of the entire capital itself, Sherra¡¯s royal palace boasts as the largest castle in the whole world. It shows just how wealthy their kingdom is, and the current king¡¯s-- her father¡¯s-- ability to rule their kingdom. It wasn¡¯t long till their caravan reached the entrance of the royal palace. With a quick confirmation from the guards guarding the enormous front door, Stella and her group were led inside the chambers of the castle. The group of knights and mages were silent as they trudged those quiet halls. Meanwhile, off to the back of the group were the duo of adventurers they saved, the Healer Helen and the Wizard Gale. ¡°We¡¯re¡­ we¡¯re inside the country¡¯s royal palace¡­!¡± Helen¡¯s eyes sparkled as she gazed at the marble walls and pillars around her. Gale¡¯s hand was tightly clutching her dress to keep the excited Healer from running off. ¡°I know you¡¯re a country bumpkin, Helen, but at least try to hide it!¡± Since Gale originally came from this capital, she wasn¡¯t as giddy as her female friend. Still, it would be a lie if she said that she isn¡¯t marveling the sheer majesty of this place. The wizard fixed up her glasses and gulped, trying to keep her cool and lose it like Helen. ¡°We¡¯re going to the conference hall.¡± Stella suddenly stopped and spoke behind her. ¡°Vice-commander Regal, you two, come with me. The others may take their rest.¡± The knights and mages dispersed not long after. Helen, Gale, Regal and Stella continued on to the hallway in front of them and made their way to the door at the end of the hall. Even from outside, they could hear several voices coming from within the room. ¡°Pardon the intrusion.¡± Stella knocked once on the mahogany door and opened it. The ongoing discussion of several people halted upon their entrance. Stella immediately saw her father, the King, and several more other commanders like her. Each of them was sitting around a spherical table with a giant map of Sherra plastered above it.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°Stella, welcome back.¡± her father greeted her with a nod. Just like before, the man¡¯s golden hair made him look like a lion, which isn¡¯t really far from the truth. Even as his daughter, Stella couldn¡¯t help but be intimidated by this powerful and wise man. That¡¯s how menacing her father looked like. Of course, Stella knew better than that. ¡°Excuse us for interrupting your meeting, father, but I have something urgent to discuss with you¡­¡± she glanced around the room. ¡°and everyone else.¡± One of the commanders, a man covered in silver heavy armor, spoke. ¡°It¡¯s alright. We weren¡¯t discussing anything that serious anyway.¡± ¡°Then I guess my Order will be the one to clear that dungeon we were talking about?¡± A black haired guy wearing a light silver armor shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t mean to brag but, our track record of clearing B-rank dungeons is quite good. A measly C-rank should be nothing.¡± Stella resisted the urge to facepalm. ¡®He¡¯s still so full of himself.¡¯ thought the blonde girl. The remaining commanders just sighed and agreed. Now that their first meeting was finished, it was time to start Stella¡¯s report. ¡°You may want to take a seat before we start this.¡± Stella looked back at the statue-esque pair of adventurers and smiled. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s start from the beginning¡­¡±
GRRAAHH!¡± The black chalice rolled over the crimson carpet beneath after being thrown by a familiar someone. It was the Demon King, the entity that visited Sylph not a long time ago. The handsome features of the black-skinned demon were ruined by the bulging veins across his face and his dilated eyes. ¡°Failures! You¡¯re all a failure!¡± the demon stood from his ebony throne and walked towards the kneeling bunch of monsters in front. ¡°I gave you a single, simple job, but you still messed it up!¡± ¡±D-Demon King, we¡¯re sorry¡­¡± a Single-Horned Wolf, not unlike the kind that resided in the Forest of Yggdrasil, muttered. ¡°W-We didn¡¯t actually think that the guardian would lose to that creature!¡± ¡°Your job was to keep her safe until I managed to convince her to join me. What couldn¡¯t you understand there?¡± the black-haired demon grabbed the wolf¡¯s horn and instantly crushed it. ¡°The, the monster was really strong!¡± A bug monster that resembles a cockroach quipped beside his fellow monster. ¡°Before we even knew it, the guardian was already dead!¡± all of the other monsters nodded in agreement. ¡°I don¡¯t need your petty excuses.¡± For a brief moment, the Demon Lord¡¯s red iris shone bright, and on the next instant, the group of pitiful monsters was doused with a jet-black flame. Even their cries were left unheard as the fire burned off their vocal cords faster than they could register what was happening. Not even ashes remained where they once knelt. Demon Lord carefully massaged his temples. ¡°Damn it¡­ now I¡¯ll have to start from scratch convincing the next Wind Guardian again.¡± his mind wondered if he should really just abduct that fairy. On another hand, this monster that killed Sylph interested him. He knows just how strong Sylph was. The monsters that can match that mischievous fae is very few, with him included. And he¡¯s pretty sure he knows who are these monsters. ¡°But I know no red slime¡­ Perhaps the Slime Queen may know more.¡± Demon Lord is quite angry for it killing the last piece for his plans, but he¡¯d be too crazy to just outright kill a creature with such potential. ¡°It¡¯s either recruitment or death. The choices are simple.¡± Several silhouettes appear near the demon, each with varying shape and size. The one who¡¯s in the middle opened it¡¯s mouth and revealed their sharp teeth. ¡°My lord, we¡¯ve arrived.¡± With a quick glance, the Demon Lord already knew who they were. They¡¯re the highest chain of command below him-- the generals of the demon army. Each one was personally picked by him, the highest of the highest class of demons. ¡°... Perfect. Where¡¯s Envy?¡± in an instant, one shadow disappeared from the group of demons. It reappeared kneeling in front of the Demon Lord, though for some reason, it was still covered in darkness. Only a dark clump of void with a vaguely humanoid shape to describe its appearance. ¡°Yes, my lord.¡± from its voice, anyone could conclude that she¡¯s a woman. ¡°Enter the Forest of Yggdrasil. I have a new mission for you.¡± he paused for a moment. ¡°¡­ Search for the new Wind Spirit and bring her here no matter what¡¯s the cost. Also¡­¡± ¡°Find the monster that killed Sylph.¡±